The New Otokage (I)
by MarzSpy
Summary: Three years ago, Sakura was given a second chance at life, presumed dead. She took comfort in the arms of Akatsuki in sheer luck and found herself a new life. Two years ago, she made a deal with Akatsuki and fought to become the Otokage. But that was the easy part; now she has to deal with national distrust and the likes of her Akatsuki companions. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Prologue

**Heyyoo everyone! For all of you newcomers just checking this out fr the first time, this is a sequel! Check my profile for the Prequel, New Sakura!**

 **For everyone else... I'm back with the sequels! =D I'm so excited to see how everyone reacts to this, this is my first time doing a project like this, and my 2nd/3rd sequels to a long-term project. Like I may or may not have mentioned in New Sakura, the prologues and first few chapters will be very similar as far as plot goes, until it takes a major split further down the road. This took so much prior planning to make sure that the plots were unique and interesting, I'm not quite sure how I managed to create this in such a short amount of time, taking into consideration my other stories and social life. I hope that the feedback for this story/stories is as overwhelming as New Sakura was :3 Without further ado, I present to you guys the New Sakura Sequel, The New Otokage ^_^**

* * *

 **Summary: Three years ago, Sakura was given a second chance at life, presumed dead. She took comfort in the arms of Akatsuki in sheer luck and found herself a new life. Two years ago, she made a deal with Akatsuki and fought to become the new Otokage. But becoming Kage was the easy part; now she has to deal with national distrust and the likes of her Akatsuki companions. What could possibly go wrong? Oh wait -everything.**

 **Pairing: [Itachi Sakura] [Sasuke x ?] [Naruto x Hinata]**

 **Genre: Drama / Romance / Action / Hurt / Comfort**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.**

 **Chapter 1. Prologue**

* * *

 _"You're growing blind, Itachi." It should have been a question, but Sakura boldly said it as a statement, confident in her assessment of Itachi even without the use of her chakra or without physically touching him._

 _"That's quite a bold statement for someone unfamiliar to the Sharingan." Itachi could have glared at Sakura's near disrespect -how dare she accuse him of such an act when she didn't even know him? As if she even knew anything about him anyway._

 _"I'm a medic-nin, Itachi. I can see the symptoms. You can't fool me under that pretext." Sakura stated matter of fact, a hand on her hip and her lips pursed in a typical irritated fashion. Who was Itachi even trying to fool? Did she look like a beginner medic to him?_

 _Itachi seemed to pause -alas, it had been a futile attempt to keep it from her, any how, seeing as she was a highly capable and intuitive medic nin. "It is but a small price to pay, given the power I reach because of it." he dismissed her concern._

 _Sakura frowned. "But... because of me... your vision is deteriorating much quicker than it should be. Why are you eve-"_

 _"It's my mission, Sakura," he cut her off, "to prepare you for your eventual role."_

 _"If I knew it came at such a price, I would have never asked you to do this for me." Sakura glared. "I'm going back. My knowledge is not worth the loss of your eye-sight." Sakura had no right to ask Itachi to sacrifice such a thing, after all. Without his eye-sight... well, he wouldn't be able to continue operations in Akatsuki, or as a shinobi at all. And where did that put him, as far as his relations in Akatsuki? He'd be useless, and left abandoned, with no other home to call his own, and Sakura simply could not have that weighing on her conscious._

 _"You are not leaving, kunoichi." Itachi nearly demanded, his order leaving hardly any room to argue, but Sakura had never let people walk all over her before, and she wasn't about to start now, Itachi Uchiha, mass-murderer extraordinaire be damned._

 _Her anger seemed to spike by Itachi's no-tolerance statement. "Then don't use the Mangekyou Sharingan anymore." she demanded with near equal authority. "There is no need to any longer. My training against the Tsukiyomi is efficient enough."_

 _"Efficient is not nearly enough. And who are you to demand this of me, Sakura?" Itachi raised an eyebrow. How dare this girl tell him what to do, when he was the one going out of his way to teach her? When he was her teacher, so to speak?_

 _"Someone who cares." Her blunt statement nearly took Itachi aback. "Don't do this for my sake."_

 _"Don't be foolish and think so highly of yourself, kunoichi. This is not for you -this is for the Akatsuki cause. This is but a small role I play."_

 _Sakura didn't exactly know how to respond to this. Itachi sure had a way of making himself out to be the bad guy, that was for sure. But she had already seen this side of him and knew this to be but a mask he put on, and as such deflected his statement with ease. "Then at least let me help you." she suggested, more so in hope._

 _"The use of the Mangekyou causes irreparable damage to the cells, you know this well. There is nothing you can do." He dismissed her concern without so much as a blink of his eye._

 _Sakura acknowledged this statement begrudgingly. He was right; she knew this to be true. But how could she just let him do this to himself? He'd go blind within the year if he kept this up, using his Mangekyou at least twice a week just for her. "Let me at least try... please... perhaps if I...-"_

 _He didn't know what had led him to even hear her out, or why he even allowed her anywhere near his eyes, even if he knew the attempt to be futile. But seeing that concern in her eyes, seeing her brows scrunch up in determination and inner turmoil in that same way they always did when faced with some sort of obstacle... well, he hadn't had the heart to stop her. He had been cooped up in this little shack with her for over a month now, and bit by bit, he had come to learn new sides of this kunoichi which he would have honestly preferred to not see._

 _He had seen her in her most weakened state, but a child on the floor with tears pouring down her cheeks and an open wound on her heart and mind. He had had to break her, an act which he never enjoyed doing, but he had had to do it either way, if she could ever hope to get strong. So he had broken her, nearly to the point where it had been irreversible. He had had to take care of her then, like a doting mother would their child, and as she fought with her inner demons and attempted to reconstruct her innermost psyche; to find herself, if you will, he had come to see something within the kunoichi that was worth admiring. Some driving force fueling her to great lengths that she was near venerable in his eyes, with a passion so deep and a heart so whole._

 _And with much regret, he had come to find out everything there was to know about this kunoichi, her memories and thoughts and feelings forever imprinted into his mind, and all of this he saw through her broken eyes which screamed of sorrow and loneliness, her mind still a fragment of what it used to be as she fought to find herself within the depths of her thoughts, her fears and inner demons. He had done to her what he had done to Sasuke many years ago, over and over again, and to a much greater degree, and he regretted it because there was no going back for either of them. She would forever be an imprint in his mind, a book he had read a hundred times and had memorized each and every single word there was, and he the monster that had nearly destroyed her and taken with him a part of her, gone forever, the pure and untainted her now under his possession._

 _"Fight it."_

 _That was all he could ever tell her, all he could offer her and say as he threw her into the Tsukiyomi over and over and over again._

 _And how could he not be surprised when, bit by bit, she began to recover, and when everything had been said and done, she held not even an ounce of regret or resentment for what he had done to her? How could he not be completely baffled when the child-like Sakura looked up at him every morning with a smile, even if he had been the demon that had reduced her to this child-like state? How could he not grow admiration for someone so kind and innately whole-heartedly accepting and forgiving? Even in her healing phase her radiance was clear to him, and it stirred within him feelings of uncertainty and remorse for having done something so despicable to someone who had already suffered so much in recent times._

 _So he could not deny her of this futile attempt to save him from himself or of the curse of being an Uchiha, after everything that he had put her through, and everything she had been forced to endure for the sake of the Akatsuki cause, he the person that had dragged her into this._

 _And so the training for Sakura had halted momentarily, as she delved into his body and attempted to find a solution to his fleeting eye-sight, of which he knew there was none. Yet, through her determination and efforts, she managed to come up with a sort of... middle-ground, if you will._

 _"I can't return your eye-sight to the state in which it was before you started using your Mangekyou." Sakura admitted bitterly. "But I can heal the cells that are dying after you use your Sharingan techniques. It will only restore it back to what it was before you used it, but only if you receive treatment within a six hour window from its original use."_

 _"It's impressive that you can come up with a solution."_

 _"I would hardly call it a solution; more like prolonging the imminent effect of that forsaken technique." Sakura scowled._

 _"Impressive nonetheless." Itachi ignored her attempt to be humble. "Arigatou." And so he made to leave from the cabin, although Sakura intercepted him momentarily._

 _"Why are you thanking me?" She seemed puzzled. After all, her efforts here were hardly even worth a mention, considering everything that Itachi had done for her. He had fed her and taken care of her, and even attempted his best at keeping her clean without abusing his power while she was in her vegetative state, so this was truly the least she could do in return._

 _"You've done more than enough to receive it." Itachi paused by the door, before exiting all together. "We're low on firewood. I'll fetch some more."_

 _Truth be told, no one, other than his mother and cousin had gone to such great lengths to try and protect him and care for him, and it struck a tender chord within him, and as such he needed to get away, lest he begin to get attached to the kunoichi._

 _Frankly, he didn't know it was already too late._

* * *

 _Sakura was up long before the sun had actually risen. She had things to do, after all. "How are preparations coming along?" She muttered to the hooded nin beside her, both of them travelling at top speed, although relatively calm, seeing as there was no imminent threat._

 _"It seems the promise of money managed to motivate the villagers. We have some promising workers working feverishly to finish off the main road."_

 _"So when's the expected completion time for the construction?"_

 _"About a year, if all runs smoothly."_

 _Sakura's tongue clicked in irritation, but she said nothing more on the matter. 'If things ran smoothly' -which they never did, from her experience. Alas, this was obviously to take time. It's not like building a hospital and functional roads took anything but time, as it was. "Did we figure out who was in control of this region?" she changed the subject._

 _"Hai. We pin-pointed him as one Hiroto Zabuza. We have narrowed down his location to one of Orochimaru's now non-operational underground bases. Itachi is there now scouting the area and obtaining a count of the enemy shinobi." Konan explained._

 _"And after him?"_

 _"The daimyo has tasked us with eliminating all of Orochimaru's negative influence on this land before he even considers our request. According to the intel Deidara has gathered, this'll be the third to last one, although he is still speaking to his contacts on the matter. He said he would get back to us in two days time with confirmation."_

 _At least this had been good news, Sakura couldn't help but think. "Tell Itachi not to intervene. I'll handle this one. Notify him of the next suspected location, and assign him to that one. And once you're done, if you could possibly set aside more funds for guarding the workers, that would be great. Notify Kisame of the change in budget and I'll worry about finding same temporary shinobi willing to take the job on."_

 _"Hai, Sakura."_

 _"Arigatou, Konan." She flashed her blue-haired counter part a small smile for the briefest of seconds._

 _Said hooded figure allowed a small smile to appear on her features in response to Sakura's own smile. "You need not thank me." Truthfully speaking, it was she who should be thanking Sakura, for taking on this mission and giving it her all. It had been a rough year and a half, and finally, their preparations were starting to be concrete._

* * *

 _"This is it?" Sakura looked at the list of names -twenty, if she were lucky._

 _"That was all we could scavenge." Konan admitted regretfully, surveying the group of people from a distance. "We went to each city but that was all we could do as far as volunteers go." It was a shame too, for they had had such high hopes. Sakura's name was often spoken of in the streets, her fame increasing as the days passed. They had expected more volunteers to join her very first regime, a group of shinobi who would stand by her side as acting supporters for her cause, but luck had not been on their side._

 _Sakura frowned distastefully. "Well, it's better than nothing. I'll start the training myself."_

 _"Shouldn't this fall on someone else's hands? You're busy as it is dealing with the Daimyo." Konan muttered. "I can get Kisame to do it, or I can-"_

 _But Sakura raised her hand, a sign for Konan to halt her statement. "They signed up because they liked the peace that I'm trying to obtain for this nation. If they are to follow under me, I think it only appropriate for me to be the first to get my hands on them." Sakura stated. "Bring them to the training ground we have assembled. I'll be there shortly."_

 _Konan paused momentarily, a small, knowing smile on her face. "Hai." And as she began leaving, she paused, and as an after thought, decided to chide in. "You truly are amazing, Sakura." She offered no explanation as she briskly disappeared, her clone dissipating, not seeing Sakura's blushing face at the compliment.  
_

 _She sighed, stretching her arms. "Itachi." she muttered, waiting until said figure made his presence known. He appeared from the window without so much as a tap, standing before her. "You know, there's no reason to hide from Konan."_

 _"I was not hiding." he rebutted without a blink._

 _"Uh-huh." she got up with a bemused expression on her features. "Weren't you supposed to be back in the Akatsuki base for further instructions from Pein and a quick day off?" She asked this question even though she knew the answer, a small ch_ _uckle escaping her mouth at his lack of a response. "Tsk, tsk, Itachi. Escaping your responsibilities? Isn't that kind of childish?" she teased._

 _"I found my presence more necessary here." he brushed her comment aside._

 _"To do what?" She raised her eyebrow, as she and Itachi began walking outside of the building of her quaint little home, and into the forest._

 _"To make sure none of the potential candidates are deceiving you." he brushed her comment aside, and as an after-thought, added a quick, "And I did speak to Leader," lest she think herself right -which she wasn't, Itachi thought adamantly._

 _"I'll be fine." Sakura stressed, ignoring Itachi's previous comment. The walk to the forest was relatively calm and quiet, neither having anything to say, nor particularly minding the silence. Upon reaching the depths of the forest, she turned towards Itachi. "I'll see you there. Or maybe I won't." she chuckled, knowing that if Itachi didn't want to be seen nor noticed, that he wouldn't be. And with a nod, she made the proper handsigns, and suddenly disappeared, Itachi following suit just seconds after she disappeared._

* * *

 _"Ahhh, Jiraiya. It's about time." Tsunade had felt her former teammate long before having actually seen him, so it was no surprise that she was already speaking before he fully walked through the door._

 _"Such a pleasure to see you as always, Tsunade-hime." he mused, mainly to himself, even as he earned a roll of her eyes from Tsunade. "And once again, it is nice to see you as well, Kakashi." the aforementioned shinobi had been so quiet, that if it weren't for his strong chakra and the flip of a page from one of his own books, Jiraiya would have never even sensed him._

 _"Likewise, Jiraiya." Kakashi greeted, closing his book shut before Tsunade pummeled him, and stuffing it into one of his miscellaneous pockets._

 _Yet, as much as Tsunade wanted to indulge herself with some company from her friend and comrade, she was busy, and he had something that she wanted. "Well?"_

 _Jiraiya sighed, his expression growing uncharacteristically serious. "As expected, we haven't seen or heard from them."_

 _Tsunade bit her thumb in a contemplative fashion, clearly irritated. "It's somewhat nerve-wracking," Tsunade began with a pause, "how unusually inactive and quiet they have been..."_

 _Jiraiya had to admit it was. In recent times, Akatsuki had hardly been spotted. It had been what? A year since they made any large movements? They could offer him no clue of their whereabouts, or even of what they were up to, and why they were so dormant. They had made no attempt to capture any Jinchuuriki, and if anyone ever caught a glimpse of any of them, it was usually near Ame and Oto, not that any of them could figure out why without stepping foot in either of those countries, a feat that wasn't advised. After all, Ame was Akatsuki country, and they could not easily step foot into Oto without attracting unwanted attention._

 _"So long as our Jinchuuriki are safe, then we have nothing to worry about." Kakashi muttered._

 _"I would hardly say nothing, but from our current situation we can't do much." Tsunade admitted. "But we should still remain weary nevertheless. Clearly they are planning something, something big." Tsunade foreshadowed ominously. They were biding their time, building up their strengths until it was the perfect time to strike -it was all they could assume, and it was a scary thing to think. One Akatsuki member was hard enough to defeat on their own -what force were they gaining now? What ever it was that they were doing, it couldn't be any good for any of them. "Keep me posted if you find anything, Jiraiya. Kakashi, for now, I'm going to allow Team 7 to go out on missions with Naruto once more. For the time being, it seems that the risk is low."_

 _"Hai." Kakashi and Jiraiya accepted the request in unison._

 _"That is all for now." Tsunade dismissed them, and as such both men exited the Hokage's tower, with talks about a new book and conducting some research this very second at the hotsprings._

* * *

 _"You're the supposed hero?" one of the eighteen nin before her spoke out, staring at her in near annoyance.  
_

 _"I wouldn't call myself a hero, but yes, more or less." Sakura stated with a curt nod, her face expression blank and her body languid._

 _"You're a child." one man sneered. "I'm done with this; I knew it was too good to be true." And so he, along with two other shinobi stormed off before anything could even begin._

 _'Great, we haven't even started and we're down to fifteen.' Sakura could have rolled her eyes, but did not make her irritation known, keeping a relatively uninterested face expression. "Does anyone else want to leave? I'd rather you not waste my time, or yours." she bluntly stated as she looked at the rest of the men and women alike around her. Most were about her same age, with a small handful significantly younger or older, somewhere along Konohamaru's or Kakashi's age respectively, it seemed._

 _"How do we know this is the real deal?" A boy about the same age as Konohamaru asked, his hair an unruly blue heap of curls on his head. "I've heard the rumors -that you single-handedly eliminated all of the rogue-nin of Orochimaru's and have started to eliminate all dark influences remaining in our lands."_

 _"You'll come to find that dealing with Orochimaru's rogues was one of the simplest things I've dealt with as of late, but there was a bit of a stretching of the truth in that rumor. I by no means act alone, as you can tell." she didn't even bat an eyelash, moving her hand to indicate to Konan, who stood beside her, and a henge'd form of Kisame and Deidara on the sidelines, acting as a security detail for Sakura, almost. "And if you don't believe of what you have heard about my strengths, then we'll have a test."_

 _She knew this was so Kakashi-esque, but found this the quickest and easiest way to get them to trust her, and as such she pulled out a bell tied to a string from her pocket, letting it jingle as the breeze guided it. But suddenly she tossed it towards the miscellaneous blue-haired boy, who precariously caught it, wondering if this was some sort of trap. "We'll play a little game." she began, slowly but surely shrugging off her cloak, as Konan, who had been standing alongside her the entire time, caught it and folded it in her arms, bowed, and then stepped away to be standing alongside the other two Akatsuki members. "I have half an hour to get this string from all of you. I don't care who holds it, I don't care how you protect it. And you know what, I'll do it using only one technique of your choosing."_

 _The shinobi stared at her. "You're not serious, right?" It was a girl this time, someone who could be no older than seventeen years old, her brown hair cut short._

 _Another seemed rather excited about the challenge. "Alright, how about Taijutsu?" Truth be told, he just wanted to fight her one on one._

 _"That's fine, if everyone is under the same consensus." Sakura shrugged._

 _The fifteen shinobi looked at each other, almost as if asking "Do you care?", until the blue haired boy spoke up. "Yeah, Taijutsu is fine."_

 _"Alright. I'll give you all fifteen minutes to get acquainted to each other, and after that I'll leave. The trial will start ten minutes after my departure."_

 _And so it had been._

* * *

 _"And that makes it eleven minutes and twenty one seconds." Konan stated, watching Sakura twirl the bell in her hand, half of the shinobi on the ground, panting, and the other half barely standing. She had not one scratch on her, and truthfully speaking hadn't even broken a sweat._

 _"Fine. You win." the man stated begrudgingly. "So what now? Do you just start training us or what?"_

 _"Not entirely." Sakura stated. "I am giving you all the final say on whether or not you want to join my cause. But know that when you agree to this, you are not just your own person." Sakura's words seemed to echo across the clearing. "Once you join my ranks, you are becoming my family. I will work for you, I will sweat for you, and I will bleed for you if need be. All I ask in return is that you put that same dedication in reconstructing a nation and transforming it into a peaceful and thriving society. Once you join my ranks, you will be working not for me, but with me for Otogakure. For a better future, one in which you can look back on and feel proud of. If you choose to stay, I will expect you here bright and early tomorrow. If not, it was a pleasure meeting you."_

 _She made to leave, but was stopped by the blue-haired boy. "What's your name?"_

 _Sakura blinked. He wanted to know her name? "Miyuki." And just like that,_ _Sakura and Konan gathered their belongings, and nearly in the blink of an eye they began walking away. And as confident and as cool as Sakura had seemed, she couldn't help but mutter a quick "Do you think any of them will show?" to Konan nervously._

 _Konan smiled. "I think you've made a very lasting impact, Miyuki." Konan muttered._

 _Sakura sighed in relief at Konan's words. "I sure hope so. Would you go inform Pein of this development, onegai? And you can excuse Kisame and Deidara for now. I'll be returning to Sera's."_

 _"Hai. I will go at once." And with a quick bow of sorts, Konan went to notify Deidara and Kisame and then promptly disappeared, just moments before Itachi decided to conveniently make his appearance._

 _"So... any of them seem to be deceiving me, hmm?" she greeted him informally._

 _"...None that stood out as suspicious." Itachi paused, not liking Sakura's snide attitude. "You did well." he changed the subject instead._

 _"Well, only a handful of them could be considered anywhere up to par to Chunin status, if that." Sakura shrugged. "It was easy enough to deal with."_

 _"I'm not referring to your victory, Sakura. As Konan stated, you have made a lasting impact on them." he explained briefly._

 _"I guess only time will truly determine that, nee?" Sakura laughed slightly, dismissing Itachi's words._

 _"Hn." Although he said this, he couldn't quite agree with Sakura. She truly had no idea of the influence she held over these people. "I believe we will have no problem with these recruits."_

 _Sakura scoffed. "Let's just hope we can get through the first week without having any more of them drop out." The road from now on would not be an easy one, after all. Anyone weak of heart would not survive alongside her and her fellow Akatsuki companions, namely Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, and Konan, who had signed up to help her train the group of shinobi._

 _And, just as Itachi had guaranteed, she would come to find that all fifteen of the aforementioned shinobi showed up the very next day, and the day after, and the day after that._

* * *

 _There had been a ruckus at the center of the village, a women with remarkably green eyes and blonde hair speaking atop the Daimyo's balcony, and in the steps beneath her at least a hundred shinobi. "People of Otogakure." Her voice seemed to boom from all sorts of directions. "The time of suffering for this nation has gone on too long. It is time that we put an end to this, and start anew...-" and so her speech began, in which she stated all she had accomplished in these past three years, all of the shinobi she had helped train, and all of Orochimaru's ex-followers she had helped rid Sound of, and all of the hospitals she had opened and the roads she had constructed and the work she had created, although many of the people below already knew all of her accomplishments. "-Accordingly, as long as there are no objections, I would like to nominate myself for the position of a new Otokage, one who promises to put forth all of her strength and effort to reconstructing Sound, better than ever."_

 _And as her speech came to a close and she was allowed a moment's breath, suddenly cheers erupted from all corners of the city, telling Sakura all she needed to know._

 _"This is a New Day for Otogakure. So tonight, we cheer to a brighter future."_

 _The cheers continued, perhaps for five minutes, perhaps for an hour -Sakura was too elated to note the time, as she entered the Daimyo's building, where she found the aforementioned Daimyo, accompanied by Konan, Kisame and Itachi (of course henge'd), and two more shinobi officially garnering a Sound hitae-ate._

 _"You did it! You're officially the Otokage!" the blue haired boy stated in exuberant excitement._

 _"Calm down Akira. My work isn't done just because I've gained the title." she allowed herself to ruffle the boy's as-always unruly hair._

 _"Congratulations. You have earned the hearts of the people. Good luck keeping it." the Daimyo hardly seemed impressed -this Otokage would be no different from the previous one, he was sure._

 _But Sakura hardly cared about what the Daimyo thought as it was. "We shall celebrate this small victory tonight, and work out the details another day." she decided with a smile._

 _And so it had been._

* * *

 _"A new Otokage has been named." Tsunade's fists tightened at the news from her ANBU._

 _"And of the rumors?" she asked._

 _"We cannot confirm anything other than that sightings of Akatsuki have increased irregularly in that area over the year."_

 _"Very well, you're dismissed." Tsunade stated, her mind on other matters. She had tasked Jiraiya on getting information from this so called new Kage, and she had yet to hear back from him -she swore if he was wasting her time and was at the strip club right now, she'd have his head on a silver platter._

 _Almost as if he could sense his impending doom by her hands, suddenly there was a puff of smoke in her office, as said gray-haired Sannin appeared using a Body Flicker technique. "Ahh, just the teammate I wanted to see." he stated with a goofy grin._

 _"You're in **my** office, don't act like this was a coincidence." she stated irritably. "But never mind that. I won't get into your tardiness. I assume you've obtained what I asked of you." She waited expectantly._

 _"Hai... well, sort of." Jiraiya confirmed. And as he stated this, he pulled out a file from within his robes, and tossed it on top of Tsunade's desk, allowing her to grab it and read over its contents._

 _"Miyuki..." she muttered as she scanned the file. "So I ask for information, and you get me her name. You couldn't even get me her picture Jiraiya, really?" clearly, Tsunade was annoyed._

 _"That was my problem. No matter where I went or who I turned to, absolutely nobody had any information on her. Who she was, where she came from, if she had any family, or even what her favorite color is. I couldn't even get a last name for you. It's like she wasn't alive until last year." Jiraiya stated, somewhat troubled by this. "But one thing I was able to confirm is that she does have clear connections to Akatsuki, although the circumstances aren't clear to us."_

 _"Well if Akatsuki's involved it can't be anything good for us, so it doesn't quite matter what those circumstances are."_

 _"I suppose, but..." Jiraiya seemed hesitant to continue his train of thought._

 _Tsunade raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "But what?"_

 _"But you should pry into what you have failed to ask of your ANBU." Jiraiya stated, although Tsunade didn't seem to understand what he was implying. "Have you heard of Sound's economic standing now?"_

 _"I've heard tid-bits." Tsunade brushed it aside._

 _"She's built hospitals and schools all across the lands. She's constructed roads and has eliminated all of Orochimaru's influence in the land all within the span of a year. She's in the midst of creating a Ninja Academy and is setting up a police force as we speak. This Miyuki doesn't look like someone trying to obtain power and harness it for evil intentions, at least, as far as I can see."_

 _Tsunade let this information sink in. She had done all of this when she had barely been officially named as Kage but a day ago? She had been busy, that's for sure. So what was her agenda? Her purpose for doing all of this? "She's trying to win her people over." Tsunade stated._

 _"Yeah... and it's worked; remarkably so, in fact." Jiraiya seemed to find some humor in it. After all, this kunoichi was succeeding in all of the areas his former teammate (the one not currently Hokage) had failed. Where Orochimaru had only cared about possible test subjects, she genuinely cared about cleaning up the mess he made._

 _"Why is this relevant, Jiraiya?" she asked with a sigh._

 _"Maybe we shouldn't accuse her of having malicious intentions so soon. She has yet to take any harmful action against anyone, so maybe we should see how things play out before making assumptions and acting against her." he reasoned._

 _"It's not like I was planning to anyhow." Tsunade sighed. After all, taking violent action against a previous nation, now fallen, would make it look like Konoha was trying to spread out and obtain new land, an action that would clearly not bode well with the other Kages. As things stood, her hands were tied."Keep me in the loop."_

 _"As you wish, Lady Tsunade."_

* * *

"To our new Otokage." Sera stated, opening up a bottle of apple cider (no alcohol for her little munchkins, after all).

"Cheers!" they all shouted in excitement, Kisame and Konan quick to swallow the bubbly drink. It had been four hours since Sakura was officially declared the new Otokage, and she could still not believe it. Her. Sakura Haruno, the one nobody paid attention to during her Genin years, had now surpassed her teammates and all of her Rookie 9 in title. The one without a kekkei genkai or without a notable clan or a tailed beast. The more average than average kunoichi with exotic hair color, Sakura Haruno.

"I would like to make a toast." Sakura stated with a smile on her face, "to all of you, for helping me realize my dream, and working so hard to make this happen for me." And it was true. She would have never been able to accomplish all of this had it not been for the help of Itachi or Konan or Kisame, or even Sera. And not to mention the financial backing of Akatsuki. Until just recently, she had been running her operations using the finances of Akatsuki, and had barely began taking donations from the village just a month or two before being officially branded as their Kage. "Tomorrow will be busy for all of us. So try and get a good night's sleep. We begin our operations of creating our Ninja Academy tomorrow."

Even if she said this, she had no intention of following her own advice, seeing as three hours later, and mind you it was already midnight by the time everyone else had clocked out, she was still at the desk in her own home, doing away with paperwork and reading up on a mind-numbing amount of things.

"You're working too hard again," the sudden voice brought her to a visible jolt, not having sensed anyone directly behind her.

"Kami Itachi, must you always do that?" she seemed irritated, even as she felt a sudden blanket wrap around her frame, and suddenly a hot cup of tea was placed before her.

"Do not blame me for your lack of awareness." he batted an eyelash at her. "Furthermore, if you could not even sense me, clearly you lack sleep."

"Yeah, and privacy." Sakura retorted, although both she and Itachi knew she didn't mean it. "I swear, I'll be done in a few minutes. Please don't wait up. At least one of us needs to be fully awake for tomorrow's proceedings." she quirked a smile. After all, more often than not Itachi was the one to pick up on her blunders when she had not gotten proper sleep for days at a time -perhaps tomorrow would be one of those times too.

"I request you worry more about yourself than me. Do I seem that inept?" he mocked a somewhat hurt tone.

"Do I?" she challenged him, leaning back on her chair (she had previously been hunched over, too tired to even attempt to have a remotely good posture), being able to feel Itachi's heat radiate off of him. It felt incredibly pleasant.

"I do this not because of your ineptitude to endure, but because of my own inability to see you unhealthy."

Sakura dismissed Itachi's statement quickly, lest he see her blush. "I'm almost done, I promise." she assured him once more. "Go get some rest in the guest bedroom."

Dutifully so, Itachi gave a nod and did just that, entering the new installment to Sakura's previous one-bedroom home. Yet, Sakura hardly paid attention to the time as it began ticking by yet again. But Sakura was exhausted, truth be told, and it wasn't much longer than an hour after Itachi retired to the room that Sakura ended up passing out on the desk with the blanket tightly wrapped around her, although Itachi had had no intention of going to sleep before seeing to it that Sakura did too.

As such, it had been his duty, for the nth time because he had lost count by now, to pick up Sakura's dainty figure and carry her to her room, and make sure she was tucked in well, for he knew her to get cold easily.

It was actually quite remarkable to see how far he had fallen from his former glory -his power was that which rivaled Kages, and here he was, his sole duty to care for this girl and tuck her in at night when she failed to do so for herself. It was rather pathetic, though highly amusing to any outside source, namely Konan and Kisame.

* * *

 _Sweat trickled down her brow, although her body in its entirety was coated with a thick sheen of sweat. But she wasn't the least bit conscious of it, instead cradled into a tight little ball on the corner of the bed, low mutterings spilling out of her mouth, although she knew not what they were. For as distressed as she seemed outwardly, the true battle waged inside her mind, within the demons that she called her past, demons that Itachi had procured for her, if only to strengthen her._

 _In an attempt to strengthen her mind and make it nearly impenetrable against genjutsu's and other mind-altering illusions, she would have to build her psyche from the ground up, a feat not at all easy. In fact, even though Itachi had stated he had never seen anyone recover from it, she had still stood firm in her position -if she could not do this, then she had no business attempting to help Otogakure._

 _But this -this? She could have never imagined **this.** It wasn't physical pain, but the effects coursed throughout her body like a poison. Whenever she knew Itachi was standing before her, it wasn't him who she saw, but images of a war-torn land, blood everywhere and bodies laying everywhere. Her body would not move as she wanted it to, to the point where she knew had it not been for Itachi, she would have withered away into nothing but skin and bones (a smelly one at that). And although at first she could not help herself from flinching away from his touch, knowing that he had been the monster who had done this to her, the small, still intact fragments of her mind could piece together Itachi's actions, and with that came his intentions._

 _At first it was just feeding her, and even going as far as producing food that she didn't need to chew, for Kami could attest that she couldn't even will her body to do that simple action. But as the days passed, Itachi knew this was not enough. And so at first it had been a wet cloth, one he dipped repeatedly and wiped her body with, the most he could do while still respecting her as a woman. And so it had been for a while, until he knew this too, was not enough, and so he had to draw baths for her, never able to fully leave her alone lest she drown -nevertheless, she too was incapable of properly washing herself. So it had been his duty, and his duty alone, and he knew deep down inside that eventually she would come to recognize his actions -whether she would hate and despise him for it, he did not know, but he certainly would not have blamed her for it._

 _He was so gentle -so compassionate in his actions, it seemed. His touch was caring, his tone gentle as he spoke to her akin to one speaking to a child. He bathed her and clothed her, and did what little he could to keep her body in a shape akin to healthy, walking her and helping her stretch from her usual ball-like state, for Kami knew being completely immobile for long periods of time built of deadly toxins within the body. And although Sakura couldn't be too sure if she had hallucinated the entire ordeal or not, during the first and subsequently worst days of her broken conscious, it seemed to her that he had held her in his arms and allowed her to break down and cry on him, although he offered no words of comfort. He was simply there to hold her down so she did not wreak havoc around her, although in his arms she was able to find some semblance of peace after tireless hours of crying her eyes out and pouring her soul into her agony-stricken mind._

 _Once her thoughts were more coherent, and she more capable of controlling her actions, he seemed to let her off of her leash, allowing her to walk alone and bathe in solitude, although he was always by the door in case something occurred. Her body had been frail for the better part of two months, her muscle mass having greatly deteriorated due to her poor eating habits, lack of movement, and constant up-heaving due to stress, pain, and a magnitude of other things._

 _But Itachi had been enough of a voice of reason for her to push through, someone she couldn't possibly **not** see as a friend after everything that he had done for her. And so, as she recuperated she couldn't help but get to know the Uchiha, and find in him some peace of mind. He was quiet, but that was not to mean that he had nothing to say. In fact, he seemed to be well-versed in many different topics, although it seemed that his favorite past time was to simply enjoy the natural occurrences before him. As such, she could recall the times in which he would carry her on his back (when she was too weak to walk), for a short walk through the forestry, or the simple nights in which they sat out under a fire and stared at the sky._

 _And through his actions, some more nondescript than others, she learned more about the complex man that was Itachi, such as his inability to see others in pain. Why else, after all, would he have gone through such great lengths to bring her back to her former self? Perhaps this in itself was an apology to her, even though she had been the one to ask for this, and as such part of her couldn't help but wonder how such a kind-hearted man had found himself in Akatsuki. Then again, if she could recall correctly, of which she was sure she was, her other Akatsuki friends were just as compassionate and caring, but this was a side of Itachi she hadn't quite expected to find throughout her journey._

 _So how could she stop herself through it all, from caring for the Uchiha man? Maybe more than she should, maybe even more than she even knew she did, but she could not stand to see the man suffer physically, an action she discovered to be her fault, due to his overuse of his Sharingan eyes. He had seemed annoyed with her constant pestering and insistence of letting her find a way to help him, but he had no one to blame but himself for this anyway, she reasoned. If he hadn't doted over her so carefully, then maybe she wouldn't have done the same._

 _Yeah, this was all his fault, and as he walked away from her after thanking her, she couldn't help the way her heart thudded strongly against her chest._

 _She had grown to care for him, and she could no longer stop herself from this._

* * *

Sakura came to bright and early, no thanks to Itachi pulling aside the blinds that were blocking the light from Sakura's sleeping form. She instantly woke up and groaned, one Itachi had heard often in the past years, due to Sakura's adamant protest of Itachi's disregard of the five more minutes rule.

"Good morning, Sakura. Breakfast at Sera's is almost done. You and Kisame are the only ones to yet wake." He greeted her informally, turning around to stare at her figure as he slowly approached her.

Yet, she either couldn't understand him yet, or chose not to listen to him, as she attempted to cover her face with a pillow -a useless action, as Itachi had already seen this coming and had removed said pillow from her hands before she could even move it further than an inch. She growled, a non-threatening puppy-like one, as she instead chose her duvet for said action of covering her face. "Itachi you're insufferable."

"And despite being a Kage, you still maintain terrible sleeping habits. It's not my job to let you sleep in, Sakura." he muttered. "As I recall, you are the one who did not want to go to sleep when I told you to. You cannot truly blame me for this."

"Blah blah blah." Sakura scowled, and promptly afterwards the blankets were suddenly hurled off of Sakura, ripped from her tight grasp as it was instead stolen by Itachi, although she couldn't tell if this was done because of her comment or because Itachi was simply doing Itachi-esque things.

"Up." he insisted sternly once more.

"But I'm so tired." she nearly cried out in agony -and for Kami's sake, why was it so damn cold?! "Did you turn off the fireplace?" she added as an afterthought.

"You have five minutes." he gave her a pointed look, said no more, and attempted to walk away, but Sakura had other plans for him.

"At least return to me my blanket." she frowned, her eyes still closed but her hand held upwards, hoping that Itachi would give in to her demand and hand her the duvet. "It's cold."

"A warm shower would do more for you than the blanket." he suggested, an indication that Itachi would do no such thing.

She let out a low, irritated growl, as she got up, eyes just barely squinted open, as she went to snatch the blanket from Itachi. "You hate me." she declared, attempting to snatch the fabric from his hand, but he pulled it upwards, a means of stopping her.

"Far from it, Sakura." his comment took her aback, enough time for him to instead wrap the fluffy blanket around her figure. When it was securely around her he allowed his hand to drop down to her cheek, an almost endearing action, it seemed, until he spoke once more. "You were drooling in your sleep again." there seemed to be some sort of twinkle of amusement in his eyes as he mentioned this, an act which snapped Sakura out of her thoughts.

"What the-" And true to his words, Sakura could feel the slightly moist spot on her cheek, an immediately blush appearing on her face.

Some sort of sound erupted from Itachi's throat, something she knew to be akin to a laugh for him, as he turned around and walked away. "Five minutes, Sakura. And don't forget to wake Kisame." he reminded her, and then proceeded to close the door to her bedroom behind him.

With a childish pout, Sakura dropped the blanket to the floor, no longer caring to have it because curse Itachi, and then once more lay back down on her bed, wiping away the drool staining her cheek all the while.

And so there Sakura lay, cold and groggy, her hair a disarray and her cheeks tinted pink. Because, the interaction with Itachi just now put aside, she knew she had fallen asleep at her desk, and that Kisame had long-since passed out on her couch in the living room, meaning that there was only one person who could have possibly carried her to her bed. Her inner swore she did this on purpose, secretly liking the feel of Itachi's warm skin against hers, but she never allowed herself to trail on those thoughts long. As such, she stood up abruptly, stretching all the while she walked outside of her room and into the living room, where she could see Kisame still snoring his life away.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." she was not the least bit gentle with the shark nin, pulling the blankets off of him and, playfully, of course, tipping the entire couch over, causing the nin to fall off with an uncharacteristic yelp, of which she couldn't help but snicker at.

"Must you always do that." his statement was mumbled, due to his face's current position on the ground.

"If Itachi won't let me sleep peacefully what makes you think I will let you do the same?" Sakura snickered, clearly amused, a hand placed on her hip. "Anyhow, Sera's breakfast is nearly served. I'm going to go shower before heading over there, don't wait up." And so she fixed her furniture and briskly turned around, heading towards her bathroom.

Although Kisame grumbled in defiance, he couldn't deny the fact that breakfast sounded delightful right now -especially Sera's. As such, he got up slowly, rubbing his nose tenderly (for he had successfully landed face first just now), and once more sitting on the couch for a few minutes, trying to awaken fully, before he got up and went about his day.

* * *

When Sakura had emerged from her bathroom fully dressed, she found her home deserted, although she could clearly feel the presence of her comrades just a block away at Sera's house, the likes of which had doubled in size with a little bit of funding from Sakura and Akatsuki respectively, in order to accommodate the appearance of the likes of Sakura, Kisame, Konan, and every so often, a couple of her most trusted shinobi such as Akira.

Before heading out, Sakura allowed herself time to examine her appearance, for the very first time dressed in traditional Kage-like attire, a hat similar to that of her former shishou's placed on her head. But instead of the red color she was oh-so familiar with, a purple one took its place atop her head, one she adamantly disliked because of its eerie resemblance to the snake nin. Alas, she could not be picky about the color.

It was odd to see herself standing there, officially titled as the Nidaime Otokage; she would never have imagined herself to be in this position, leading a nation, let alone a nation not her own, but here she was, and there was no turning back. That being said, she turned around and without so much as a second glance to her appearance exited the bathroom, and left towards Sera's house.

She could hear the commotion of her comrades long before she had actually entered Sera's house, although she hadn't expected any less from the rambunctious group, although this was probably due primarily to Sera, Kisame, and Suki and Suzuki. Although, strangely enough, it seemed to have died down by the time she approached the door, not that she could understand why.

And so she opened it, needing no invitation, and to her surprise, the table lay set with an array of delicious food forming a buffet in front of her, all of her friends already sitting down, waiting for her arrival. "Good morning everyone." she greeted calmly.

"Congratulations, Sakura-oneesama~!" Suki and Suzuki shouted excitedly.

Although a smile framed her face, Sakura couldn't help but sigh. "We already celebrated last night. There truly was no need for such a feast, Sera." she reminded the two girls, putting a hand on each of their hands as she walked in and took a seat in between Itachi and Konan, a bow of gratitude sent to Sera all the while.

"Think of this as a feast fit for a Kage." Sera brushed her aside.

"I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't budge on the matter." Konan stated calmly, although she wasn't opposed to the quantity of the food (Kisame always ended up eating half of it anyway).

"She never does." Sakura mused. "But never mind that. What's on our agenda today?"

"We have a meeting with the Daimyo in the hidden village in two hours. We are to begin discussing the preparations for the Ninja Academy as well as delegate roles for head of staff for the programs we are establishing." Konan stated.

Sakura nodded. "The paperwork on the matter is already completed. I'll give it to Akira to file and sort out upon our arrival, and we'll sort out the rest later." For now, she would have a nice breakfast with her make-shift family, and worry about the less than accommodating Daimyo she would have to deal with from now on.

* * *

The Daimyo, with a characteristic frown on his face, looked over the paperwork that Miyuki had created for him to look at, including budget, prices, blue prints, and any other information she had deemed relevant enough to include. They had been discussing plans for well over an hour now, and still he could not say that he was entirely pleased with her plans, not that she hadn't been concise enough or anything like that -she had planned it nearly to the last detail, impeccable work on her behalf. "And how do you plan to fund this project of yours?" he asked condescendingly.

"If you refuse to participate, as you have with every other project I have started for your village, then I shall make due with my own resources, though I will not hesitate to ask for donations from the townspeople." Miyuki stated, not afraid to show some passive-aggressive malice. It was understandable that the Daimyo didn't want to lend out money, especially not to a stranger, when money was hard to come to in these lands. But after three years of building hospitals and schools and roads and becoming Kage for Kami's sake, her intentions were clear, but still he did not budge, if only to keep his funds.

"I am not opposed to the changes you are making, make no mistake of that, Miyuki." the Daimyo narrowed his eyes. "By returning us to a status of a Hidden Village, you will indeed increase income and gross value of Otogakure. But you are also bringing on politics only shinobi's bring to the table; a messy side of politics I would rather not be a part of, especially if the rumors of your so-called funding are true." the Daimyo stated warily.

"I am well aware of what I am doing." Miyuki clipped in. It was definitely dangerous business what Sakura was getting them involved in; shinobi life style only ever meant trouble and warfare in the long run, but it was a necessary sacrifice. "And as for your concern, if I didn't get my funding from them would you have helped?" she raised a delicate eyebrow, but the seconds ticked by and the Daimyo didn't respond. "I didn't think so. Are we done here?"

"...I'll be in touch." he finally grumbled, and with a nod Sakura turned around and walked away, two shinobi following behind her, both with blue hair, but only one an Akatsuki member.

They walked swiftly and purposely outside of the Daimyo's building, and it wasn't until they were finally out that Akira let out a sight of relief. "Do you think it's really okay to speak that way to the Daimyo, Lady Miyuki?"

"He wouldn't dare to say anything against me. He knows what I'm doing will eventually bring him loads more income; he's just a greedy old bag whose in it for the money." Miyuki stated. "You should learn the politics, lest you take my place in the future."

At the comment, no matter how absent-mindedly Sakura had said it, Akira couldn't help but blush profusely. "I-I-I could never Lady Miyuki! I would never be able to surpass the reputation you have carved."

His reaction was priceless, down to the nervous, Hinata-esque way he played with his fingers. As such, Sakura couldn't help herself from ruffling his unruly hair, a chuckle escaping her mouth. "Have more confidence in yourself Akira."

Before any more words could be spoken between them, a figure appeared with a puff of smoke, a person who Sakura knew to be Itachi, of course henge'd. Sakura raised an eyebrow, knowing that Itachi must have some urgent news to tell her if he appeared before her so informally. "Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Sayaka says you have received a letter in your office early this morning."

"A letter?" If it had been Akatsuki, it would have been delivered via Konan or Itachi respectively, and who else would be trying to speak to her other than Pein? "Who is it from?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You may see for yourself." Somehow, Sakura didn't like the answer that Itachi had given her, and as such she wasted no time, lest the message be time-sensitive. "Inform Sayaka to bring the letter to my office. Akira, give me the papers to sign; I'll get started on them while I wait."

"Hai, Lady Miyuki." Akira bowed, and at once handed Sakura her documents. Within a moment's notice, she had disappeared with a puff of smoke, and in the next second she was back in her office, wasting no time in signing off on the papers she had acquired from the Daimyo.

Within the next few minutes, Sayaka, a kunoichi that had stood alongside Akira during their first meeting, approached her with a bow. "I have the letter you have requested, Otokage-sama." she stated calmly.

"Who is it from?" She asked the question Itachi had refused to answer.

"It says here its from the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, Lady Miyuki."

Her scribbling halted, a small ink blob forming at the corner of her signature. Truth be told, that had been the one thing she hadn't expected to hear. "Bring it here. You're free to go, Sayaka-chan." she ordered, and with a bow her secretary did just that, and then promptly dismissed herself to finish her other duties.

Sakura sighed, eyeing the scroll but eventually tossing it on her desk, without even opening it, procrastinating, even if just momentarily, on acting on this.

What could her former mentor possibly want?

 **End of Chapter**

 **Just as a side note, Sakura's new name, Miyuki, translates to "snow", a reference to her rebirth during winter.**

 **So I have to admit, I'm actually very happy with the way the prologue developed ^-^ To be honest, I'm happier with this one than the Sasuke version, but I'll leave that up to you reviewers to decide ^-^. Kind of just setting up the events for the next chapter, I know a lot of the content in this one was very similar to that of the Sasuke version, but I expected it and I do apologize for anyone actually reading both versions, they will be slightly repetitive. There will also be many similarities with the next chapter, although it'll be the one to split the two completely and lead them towards separate paths.**

 **But onto other matters.**

 **IT'S UP. The long awaited sequel(s) ! ^_^ A lot of you may be wondering what I'm going to do as for as updating, and I have to be honest, I don't know. I'm going to say the average time will be one chapter a month, but if I'm trying to update both sequels at the same time, then I might not be able to do this deadline. I'll let you guys know how well I'm able to balance the work load on top of school and life.** **Yet, despite this, the new chapters for these will probably not be posted for another 2 months. I want to give myself more time to work on Sakura's New Future and Somewhere We Belong before picking up on this again. I'm sorry about that!**

 **Let me know what you all think? Above all else, as the first 3-4 chapters are up, I'd like to know if the stories are too repetitive, or too similar to each other. There's no point in me making two separate stories if the plots end up looking identical :/**

 **Any and all feedback would be much appreciated! Until next time!**

 **-MarzSpy**

 **P.S. Check my profile for updates on my current workload /estimated update times.**


	2. Konohagakure

**Hi! I'm very pleased with the response the sequel has gotten so far ^_^~! At least, with the Ita x Saku pairing, that is. Unfortunately, the Sasu x Saku pairing has not been as good with response, which is slightly disheartening, but I won't let that deter my efforts for making both as equally worth the read.**

 **Now I just want to clarify a point that I probably should have mentioned in an A/N in the prologue, but forgot to. By this time, Itachi and Sakura sort of already have something going on, nothing concrete, but the feelings are definitely there, whether they want to fully admit it or not. They know they care about each other, but they haven't really explored the depths of this "care" because of the situation in which they are in, and Itachi additionally being all too aware of the fact that she had liked his younger brother -had loved, even. So as far as their dynamics, this is where they stand, and you'll see more of that during this chapter. Because they have technically had 3 years to get to know each other during this time skip, you won't see much of them getting to know each other, but if you guys want to, I don't mind creating a flashback per chapter, as I do in Sakura's New Future, to go further into character development for them. But I'll leave that up to the discretion of the readers o:**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.**

 **Chapter 2: Konohagakure**

* * *

Sakura had been staring at the scroll for hours now, in between her doing away with paperwork absent-mindedly and avoiding contact with her Akatsuki friends, namely Itachi and Konan (although out of the two of them, only Itachi knew that she had received said letter). After all the paperwork had been done and sent with Sayaka to be filed and sent to the Daimyo respectively, she knew she could no longer avoid her duty, especially not after Itachi had appeared in her office, through the window with a henge in place.

He noticed the scroll lay unopened on the corner of her desk, although he could not blame her for taking her time in reading over its contents. Whatever it was, it could not be good for Sakura, although Itachi had a hunch as to what it could be. He did not press her on the matter; his being there was enough pressing for her, he was sure, so he simply stood there by the wall furthest to her desk, waiting patiently for the inevitable.

"You sure are pushy aren't you, Itachi?" she seemed irritated by his presence. "Or nosy, I can't tell which at the moment." she added as an after thought. "Maybe both." Clearly, she was trying to make light out of the situation, although her mind was clearly burdened by a simple scroll.

"And you are nervous, Sakura." he ignored her comments. "Why?" he spoke so casually.

"Why? Because this is the last people I want to hear from, what do you mean _why_?" Sakura frowned, her eyes finally meeting those of Itachi's. For Kami's sake this was the nation she formally followed, the nation where all of her previous friends and comrades lived, and it was unnerving to think her former mentor wanted to relay a message to her. With that being said, Sakura grabbed the scroll, and with one last sigh, threw away her reservation and opened the scroll. There was no reason to get her panties in a bunch without even knowing what Tsunade wanted, after all.

 _Dear Otokage,_

 _Konoha humbly invites you to our village, in hopes of becoming better acquainted with you. I sincerely hope you accept our invitation in hopes of creating some sort of friendship between these two nations, one which will benefit us both in the long run. I hope to hear your response soon. If you have any questions or concerns on the matter, do not hesitate to ask as well._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage_

Sakura blinked; twice, thrice. Well, this was just her luck.

Almost as if sensing her displeasure, Itachi kicked himself off of the wall he had been leaning on and approached her. He stood beside her, and read the contents fairly quickly, this having been exactly what he had suspected it to be.

Konoha was seeking an audience with Sakura, although he knew with much certainty that this was not about becoming friends, and he knew that Sakura knew this well too. "You could always refuse." Itachi spoke. "You are too compromised with your busy agenda here in Otogakure as it is." he reasoned.

"And look suspicious as all hell?" Sakura frowned, arguing against said statement. "I know about the rumors Itachi -they're fairly accurate, not to mention, and I'm sure Tsunade has heard of them and gathered as much as well. If I decline this will only make Oto look suspicious in the long run." She sighed in irritation, releasing the scroll onto her desk and busying her hands by interlacing them with one another as she thought this request through. "I have to go."

"No, you do not." Itachi reasoned with her once more, knowing that in her heart there must be some sort of dread, and who knows what else.

"Yes I do. It is my duty as Otokage. I signed up for this life, I cannot run away as soon as something so trivial confronts me." Sakura shook her head in denial. "I will go." she ascertained once more.

"Then I shall go with you." Itachi stated. "This is the least I can do if it'll aid you in feeling more at ease." he didn't even bat an eyelash.

"I can't possibly make you do that." but even though she said this, her chair slightly turning to stare up at the Uchiha, Itachi gave her a look, almost as if saying _you can't tell me what to do,_ prompting Sakura to add a quick "Besides, Pein wouldn't even allow that. Why would he let Akatsuki step foot inside Konoha?" The idea in itself was preposterous, and she knew Nagato would never allow such a thing.

"Pein ordered me to do what I see fit to protect our interests." he countered without even a bat of his lash.

"Your interests, as you call it, are not at risk. These are my personal fears getting to me, is all."

"My interest lies in protecting you, Sakura." His blunt statement, said so matter-of-fact, seemed to leave him unfazed, making Sakura's cheeks flush pink almost immediately. How could he say things like that and not even feel embarrassed about it? Especially when it would always, and she meant always, emit a response out of her, whether physical or emotional.

"...But what if you're discovered?" It was all she could do to change the topic, a frown on her features.

"I won't be." Itachi assured in that Uchiha-esque matter which left no room for argument, "and you know it." he added for emphasis. "There is no reason for Konoha to turn Sharingan or Byakugan eyes on me -as such, I am perfectly safe so long as I have a guise."

And yes, Sakura knew it was true, but it didn't stop her from looking for any other sort of excuse. Truth be told, she wasn't sure about how she felt about Itachi seeing Sasuke -it worried her more than her meeting her old friends and comrades, truth be told, something she knew to be because of her suspicions of Itachi's real motives for the Uchiha Massacre, although she couldn't get a peep out of him when it came to the subject. "And what if I don't want you to go?" she bit her bottom lip.

A flash of something flickered in Itachi's eyes, although Sakura couldn't pin-point what it was. "Then it is unfortunate that you don't control me, isn't it?"

"...Alright smart-ass." she glared at him. "Go get Konan and Kisame for me, please. We should discuss this issue as a whole." she leaned back onto her chair, her eyes closed, although she could both sense and hear Itachi slowly making his way out of the room. "And if Konan and Kisame decide against it, promise me you won't go." she knew he had heard her, having stopped before exiting the office room, but upon hearing her words he was quick to walk away without a response.

He would make no such promise, after all.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Itachi reappeared in her office with the two aforementioned Akatsuki members, and once they had all settled down Sakura allowed them to read the letter, she promptly began to explain her ideas as to how to coordinate the response, as well as Itachi's overall involvement in her plan.

"Hmmm... I'm sorry Sakura, I've gotta go with Itachi on this one. I don't really see an issue with Itachi going. In fact, I want to go too." Kisame had his arms crossed, currently leaning against a wall, a foot holding his balance against it.

Sakura scowled. "Absolutely not. Henge or not, you are not subtle about your identity, what with your blood thirst and your seven foot sword." she exaggerated with a glare. "Regardless, Pein would never allow such a thing." she added, a hand on her hip.

"Not necessarily." Konan added, making Sakura's frown deepen. "Pein wants us to ensure our interests, which is you, just as Itachi stated." she explained. "Although unlikely, there is a possible threat to your life if you go into enemy territory, that being Konoha, of course. Rumors of how you achieved your reputation have spread throughout the lands; Konoha is not an exception. If they for some reason see you as a threat and agree that the best way to take you out would be under their roof, then I'm sure that you won't get out unscathed without some back up. As such, I'd even insist I go as well."

"..." Sakura could say nothing for a long time, unbelieving of the Akatsuki members in front of her. She hoped that they would help Itachi understand that it was not a good idea for him to go, but they turn this around on her and decide they should _all_ go instead?! "Then I shall bring Akira and a couple other shinobi with me. There's no reason to involve you guys." she sighed, shaking her head.

"As promising as Akira is, his strengths are nowhere near our level of skill. With the likes of the Jinchuuriki and that Copy-Cat nin, the likelihood of him being useful is slim to none." Kisame reasoned.

"I know them, Konan. I know they won't just attack me because they have the smallest theory that I work with Akatsuki." she frowned.

"You _knew_ them, Sakura." Kisame corrected her, not missing the way she flinched slightly. "-and during that time, you were a comrade -you were never seen as an enemy. Here you will be. And it's been three years. Surely you can't expect everyone to be as you left them. Reasoning like that will get you killed, kitten." he was more serious than she had expected him to be.

Sakura opened her mouth to interject, to argue against him, but found she could come up with a valid argument. With a sigh, she couldn't help but admit defeat. "Fine. If you guys want to go, then so be it. But one of you guys needs to stay here in my stead to watch over Oto. I will not leave it defenseless just a day after my coronation." She hoped that at least in this way, Itachi would somehow be voted as the odd man out and be forced to stay here. "While you three coordinate with that, I shall give Tsunade my response."

And so it had been, and Sakura had been left to quietly respond to the letter, as the Akatsuki members filed out of her office one by one -save for the lone Uchiha who knew that Konan and Kisame would figure things out and get back to him on it (plus, it didn't hurt to know that Kisame, and possibly Konan, knew very well that he intended to go with Sakura, with or without the permission of Pein and even if they had voted him to stay in the village).

"What is it Itachi?" she hummed out, not looking up from the empty scroll before her, as she tried to formulate some words that sounded hospital enough, even if she knew Tsunade's true intentions behind the invitation.

He approached her once more, standing alongside her as she began to scribble down her response. "You have no need to worry about me, Sakura." he insisted once more.

"Even if I didn't I know I still would." she sighed -curse her for caring.

"I implore you to worry about yourself." he placed a gentle arm for comfort, because he knew, even if it didn't look like Sakura needed any, that she must be dealing with an assortment of different feelings about having to go to Konoha after three and a half long years of not being in contact with them, and not to mention that they thought her dead.

Sakura frowned, slightly leaning into his touch. "What if they recognize me?"

"We've gone through extensive efforts to make sure nobody makes the connection, Sakura." Itachi dismissed her concern. Her name had been altered, her hair died, her scent and outfits changed, her fighting style completely different. To top it all off, they had even changed her own chakra signature through some manipulation on Sasori's and his part. But he knew her concerns stemmed further past that, because this would be the first time she would see her former comrades in a Konoha setting, in which she would have to converse with them, and be cordial and what have you, and how could she pretend to be so friendly knowing what she knew? Knowing that Saki had practically killed her, her friends abandoned her on the battlefield, and forgotten about her shortly afterwards? And as all these thoughts raced though her mind, she couldn't help her knuckles from tightening ever so slightly.

 _What would happen when she saw her mentor again?_

 _Or Naruto? And even Sasuke? No longer Sasuke-kun, but Uchiha-san or Sasuke-san, and no longer Kakashi-sensei, but Hatake-san or the Copy Cat Ninja?_

It was slightly overwhelming to be honest, but she was glad to have Itachi there to lean on, even if just for the slightest of moments. "Would you mind sending this back to Konoha?" Sakura sighed once more, finishing up her letter and sealing it.

"I shall have Akira handle the matter." Itachi dismissed her. "You have yet to have lunch, correct?" Even though he asked, it was more of a statement.

"But I have to-"

"It can wait, Sakura." he cut her off, knowing that this was just her trying to busy herself with a multitude of tasks just so that she didn't have to think about her current situation. "It won't be too much longer before Konan and Kisame come back. Give yourself some time to breath."

And so it had been, and she and Itachi returned to her quaint little home in order to eat a small lunch and think about what it was that she was to do.

* * *

Shizune was not one to question Tsunade's actions on a typical day (unless she was completely drunk, that is), but sending the newly-named Otokage an invitation to Konoha hadn't been one of the smartest things that Tsunade could have done, to say the least.

"You know the rumors, Tsunade. What if she brings Akatsuki in with her? It's like we're asking for Naruto to get kidnapped." Shizune frowned.

"It'd be hard for Naruto to get kidnapped within our own walls." Tsunade frowned. What with the combined efforts of not just herself, but Kakashi, Neji, Naruto, and Sasuke? Please, she'd like to see Akatsuki _try_ to get their hands on Naruto. "Furthermore, if these are to be her intentions, then so be it. At least we'll know that she cannot be trusted in the long run -an incentive for us to turn to them with war. If they have clear connections with Akatsuki, then she may be the way to destroy them." Tsunade reasoned. "Aren't you the least bit curious to know if what the rumors say are actually true?" she glanced at Shizune quizzically.

"What more is there to know? As soon as she appeared in Oto, Akatsuki sighting and actions had become less and less around any of the other hidden villages. They've been seen on numerous occasions up and about in Oto, I would think that warrants enough suspicion." Shizune stated, her hands wrapped around TonTon.

Tsunade sighed, leaning back on her chair. Truth be told, the only reason she was giving this so-called Miyuki (if that was even her name) the benefit of the doubt was because Jiraiya had brought up a good point -if she was working with Akatsuki and furthering their agenda, why had she gone through such extensive efforts to better the economic standing of Otogakure? Why not just be a dictator like Orochimaru and use it as a means of finding people to experiment on and recruit? Something didn't quite sit right with her, and she knew her suspicions would not qualm until she was able to see Miyuki face to face and actually get to know her.

"How long do you think it'll take to get a response?" Shizune stated, a nervous undertone in her voice.

"Not much more than twenty four hours." Tsunade estimated. "There's no reason for it. My letter will get here by the end of tonight; I'm assuming she won't actually receive it until tomorrow morning, though." Tsunade stated as she stood. "But never mind that. Start setting up quarters for the Otokage and a select handful of her shinobi. I'll be briefing a team to guide them into the city."

Shizune couldn't help but arch an eyebrow in question. "Why are you so sure that she'll come?" she asked.

Tsunade could have scoffed, a smug expression on her features as she began to walk away. "Because Miyuki has no choice."

* * *

 _Godaime Hokage,_

 _It is a pleasure to formally accept your invitation. I thank you sincerely for reaching out towards us so quickly after my ascension as Otokage. I will have to make some arrangements to accommodate this prompt meeting, but I do plan to meet you in two days time. I will have one of my shinobi, Akira, handle the preparations regarding our arrival with you. I plan on bringing three shinobi apart from myself. If housing seems to be an issue, please notify me with time in advance._

 _-Nidaime Otokage_

* * *

"Lady Miyuki. Everything has been prepared for our departure." She was currently in her office making final instructions for whom she had left in charge in her stead, when Akira had come in with a polite knock. She looked up, a slight smile on her face.

"Arigatou Akira. I shall be there momentarily. Thank you for your patience."

Even if what she said did not remotely deserve his reaction, he blushed nonetheless, and with a bow scampered off. Within a minute's time, three shinobi walked into her office, each familiar enough to her, although none bore the typical Akatsuki cloak over their figure.

"I can't believe I have to stay behind." Kisame sighed, his arms behind his head in a lazy fashion. "I sure as hell didn't sign up to be Otokage." he complained.

"Oh shush. You guys took a vote; don't come to me with your whining." She rolled her eyes at the antics of her companions. As an after thought, a smirk intact, she decided to add a quick insulting endearment, "fish-face."

Kisame scowled. "Whatever. If anyone here is to be made fun of, it should be Itachi, alright?"

Itachi flashed him a glare, although the Kiri-nin couldn't take it seriously in the slightest.

He was, after all, uncharacteristically shorter, his hair significantly longer, his eyelashes thicker and fuller. His face was rounder than what was usual for his typical noble aristocrat features, his face softer, and finally, he donned curves not belonging to that of a man.

"Oh cut it out Kisame." Sakura rolled her eyes yet again. "He makes a beautiful girl. More beautiful than I could ever hope to be." Although meant to be a joke to tease Itachi too, there was much truth in Sakura's words. He was beautiful -breathtakingly so, down to the alluring, majestic and noble air to her body language and face expression, almost as if she were a noble princess who belonged in a tapestry depicting times of long ago.

Itachi gave her a glance, as if warning her to not continue on with this teasing, lest he never hear the end of it from Kisame. With a sigh, Sakura returned her gaze back on Kisame. "I've given you specific instruction on what it is I expect to be done by the time I come back. Sayaka should take care of most of the items on this list, and she is also well-informed on the matters outside of her typical job. If you have any questions or reservations, don't be afraid to go directly to her." Sakura began to explain. "I've already dealt with the Daimyo about the matter, so do not approach him with matters having to do with the Ninja Academy unless he explicitly begins the conversation. And if he does, just give him one of your toothy grins and I'm sure he'll shut right up." Sakura chuckled. Kisame had the luxury of looking utterly dangerous due to his stature and sharp teeth, which was normally a bad thing, but nobody liked to deal with Daimyos' to begin with. She had heard an earful from him the previous day when she notified him that she would be going to Konoha for a few days, and had been less than pleased with his remarks.

 _"I told you bringing shinobi business into this town was no good. And now you're leaving us defenseless against an attack just days after your descent into Kage-ship. You're a disgrace."_

But whatever -that old bag wouldn't know the right course of action even if it hit him in the face with a brick.

"Hai, hai." Kisame's response brought her back from her small daze.

"And try not to make a mess, and no, Sayaka is not your own personal chef. If you get hungry, you will go out like any other civilized person and buy your own food, you got that?"

"Hai, hai." Although displeased to hear this, he could always just-

"And no, you will most definitely not raid my fridge or free-load off of Sera's kindness, do you understand?"

Kisame frowned. "Imprison and starve me then, why don't you." he stuck his tongue out at Sakura in a childish manner.

Sakura rolled her eyes, as she stood up and made her way to the other side of her desk, walking towards Konan who already had her pack of belongings ready for Sakura to take. "Arigatou." she muttered a quick thank you as she received the pack, and then once more adverted her gaze to Kisame. "Don't worry, out of the kindness of my heart, I have left you a little allowance for food -seeing as you are watching over my village and all." she shrugged. "But know if anything happens it'll be on your head." There was a frightening sort of threat in Sakura's words, one which Kisame would never admit made him shift uncomfortably, but he knew that Sakura simply cared too much about this village to see anything happen to it and truly meant no harm by it.

"I'm not a child, Sakura." Kisame rolled his eyes. "Go already. What do you think is going to happen? I'll accidentally set Otogakure on fire while you're gone?" he stated sarcastically.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time." Sakura muttered under her breath, although Kisame had clearly heard it -it didn't help that Konan let out a small snicker and Itachi had flashed him a glance, almost as if taunting him for his idiocy.

"For the last time, it had been _Deidara,_ for Kami's sake! I'm not the arsonist that likes to blow things up in the organization! Your roof is no fault of mine." he stated indignantly.

"Hai, hai." It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes. He may not have been the one to physically do it, but he did come up with the idea and egg him on, which is just as bad, honestly. But that was a thing of the past and Sakura was just teasing anyway, and so the four of them made their way outside the building and met up with Akira, who was watching over the belongings of Konan and Itachi (now henge'd in a typical fashion that Akira had gotten accustomed to).

"Ready to go, Akira?"

"Hai, Lady Miyuki!" He was as exuberant as always.

"Alright, let's go. I'd like to make it before sundown." Not an impossible feat, although Akira was sure to be tired by the end of the trip.

"Hai. The Godaime Hokage said there would be a team of ANBU waiting for us at this designated location to escort us into the village." and as he said this he walked towards Sakura and pointed towards a specific location on a map of the Fire Country, a spot which Sakura knew fairly well, even though it had been years since she had stepped foot in the village.

"Hai. It'll be no problem."

And so it had been.

* * *

Travelling outside of Oto and to official Land of Fire territory had been a breeze thanks to the close proximity between the two nations, but this was not to mean that any of them were relaxed -oh no, far from it. Both Sakura and Itachi ran high risks of being discovered by their former home, an affiliation that could get both of them killed, whereas Akira was in his own little world, wondering what it would be like to enter Konoha. Not once before had he been outside of Otogakure before, but he had always had big dreams about travelling the world and experience different cultures unlike his own. Although thrilling, it was nerve-wrecking, because as exuberant and free-spirited as he was and acted, he knew this was serious business to his most esteemed Lady Otokage. Why else would she have brought with her the people who he knew to be inherently Akatsuki, but constantly turned a blind eye to?

As much as he played the fool, he knew of the rumors, and he could not remain blissfully unaware forever, especially not with the constant time he spent with Lady Miyuki. And although at first he had been fearful and unsure as to how he should feel about this, or what he should do, he had learnt to trust his Otokage.

 _"Are the rumors true?"_

He remembered he had confronted her about it two years ago, when he had accidentally walked in on her speaking business with one Uchiha Itachi, as he had learned him to be.

 _"And if I were to tell you they were? Would you feel betrayed?"_

She had stared at him then, her voice cold, her eyes un-telling of her true thoughts.

 _"Why them? Why would you bring them here?"_ In truth, he had felt betrayed -here she was, preaching to be the savior of Otogakure, willing to bring change and peace, but she turned around and brought over people from the very same organization the first Otokage had been in -and look what that had done to them. She was directly getting them involved with the bad side of shinobi politics, the dark side which was always blurring lines, and he hadn't known how to feel about it, especially when he had nothing but the utmost best opinion of her. She was beautiful, intuitive, driven, smart, incredibly strong, and so very compassionate -had it all been a lie?

 _"If not them, who else would help me?"_ He had not had an answer for her then, even as she brushed past him. _"My goals change not because of them. Hate me for it if you'd like. I still plan on doing this for Otogakure, and you're either with me or against me."_ Their shoulders had brushed as she walked past him, and he had not the heart to look at her then.

He knew that it was dangerous to know what he knew -that, were it not up to her, the Akatsuki might have possibly killed him for discovering their actions in Otogakure due to the risk of him telling somebody so early on in their plans. But whether they did indeed mean to keep this secret, they harmed him not, and he knew it to be because she had ordered them not to. _"He's a smart kid with a bright future ahead of him. Who are we to take that away from him? He's just trying to figure out whether his conscious can live with our actions -its understandable. I would have had my doubts doing what I do now two years ago as well."_

She had been so selfless in protecting him from Akatsuki, and it brought him back to his first encounters with her, when she was defending him even when the others had doubted his ability to grow as a ninja, and she had even believed in his strength when none other would, which was perhaps why he had felt so betrayed. But bit by bit he began to understand that making a deal with Akatsuki was a sacrifice that she had to make. And the fact that she was willing to make it, to taint her name for it, showed just how desperate she was to save Otogakure from their current affliction.

So how could he not forgive her, and further respect her for her actions after the fact? For risking her life everyday just for his home?

Perhaps his admiration for her developed into a small crush, but it was an innocent crush, one which he knew was blatantly obvious, but he would keep to himself nonetheless. She was older after all, and only a man was suited to be her partner, a man much like Uchiha Itachi as he had his suspicions (he and Konan had actually gossiped about it much). And although he liked to pretend in his own little world that he and Itachi were rivals, he knew there was no competition, and it secretly angered him.

"How long until we're at the meeting point, Akira-kun?"

Suddenly Miyuki's voice had snapped him out of his train of thoughts. "E-Etto..." he muttered, scrummaging through his belongings until he pulled out the map. "Just a few kilometers now. The Godaime Hokage had specific instructions that an ANBU team would find us once we gathered at our destination."

Miyuki gave a nod and said nothing more, her thoughts and emotions expertly hidden behind a facade. If she was nervous, she definitely didn't show it, and Konan gave her much credit for that.

* * *

It was a bright day in the Land of Fire -not that this was a peculiar sight, then again. Three shinobi were lounging around outside of the village, of course on orders from their Hokage. One was located at the base of a tree trunk sitting down casually, another standing atop said tree, his pearl eyes examining the area around them, and a third shinobi alongside the same branch, doing pull-ups at a ridiculous pace.

"Nee, what do you think she'll be like?"

The Team Captain glanced down at his only female partner. "If the rumors are true, I don't expect much." His brown hair was long -past his waist almost, although it seemed to only add to his allure, a mysterious man with a porcelain hawk mask currently strapped to his neck, but not covering his face, similar to his other two teammates.

"It is true that it seems she has been condoning such un-youthful behavior with Akatsuki, but should we not give her the benefit of the doubt?"

"Can you really come back from that though?"

"They're all just allegations." Neji dismissed TenTen's comment. "We are to escort them to the village in an unbiased fashion, and only attack if we are attacked."

"Well I know that. I just don't trust Lee to not act so... _Lee-ish."_

Lee frowned, but had no room to comment as Neji's look at the forest beyond them sudden intensified. "They've arrived at the given destination." Almost immediately Lee stopped his shenanigans and TenTen stood up, all three of them placing on their respective ANBU masks. "We shall approach slowly, but be cautious. We don't know what we're dealing with."

* * *

Nearly the entire bunch had sensed the group of ANBU long before they had actually seen them. So they sat, waiting by a nearby boulder, lying in wait for the aforementioned Konoha ANBU to arrive and escort them to the village.

"Do you recognize them?" Konan had mumbled casually, making sure that Akira had not heard them, absent-mindedly staring at the sky.

"People's chakra signatures naturally change over time." Sakura shrugged. "I'd have to see them without their masks on."

At least, this had been what she thought, but upon seeing long luscious brown locks of a distinctly male figure and a green jumpsuit underneath the typical ANBU attire, she realized that perhaps this had not been an accurate statement.

The greeting between them had been formal. Neji, the clear leader, was rigidly stiff as he spoke to them and addressed Miyuki. "Greetings Nidaime Otokage. We have been assigned to escort you safely to Konohagakure."

His voice had gotten deeper and more harsh, Sakura couldn't help but think. Nevertheless, this didn't matter, she couldn't help but think as she turned to address the ANBU leader. "Hai." Miyuki had stated very curtly, her heartbeat pounding but her face revealing nothing.

 _All of them had grown taller, and TenTen now had the curves of a woman._

 _Then again, she supposed so did she, to a smaller extent._

They began their walk, the ANBU leading the way in a somewhat triangular formation, with Neji in the back and Lee and TenTen just a ways ahead of him, clearly as a precaution in case they decided to attack. It was actually a little amusing, seeing them so tense, although Sakura couldn't honestly blame them.

"We don't bite, Leaf Shinobi-san. You can rest at ease." Miyuki stated almost as a reminder, her eyes glimmering with amusement that no one could see because of her Kage hat.

Neji seemed unfazed by the fact that she could see how tense they were so easily. Regardless of this though, it seemed he would not respond to this statement. "Tsunade will be meeting you at the front gates of the village, where she will personally escort you all to her office for further greetings."

"Hai, arigatou." Instead of bothering them any further, she turned her gaze to the youngest member of her group. "I hear the Hokage monuments here are quite the spectacle. Are you excited to see them, Akira-kun?"

There seemed to be a glint in his eyes at the mention, never mind the fact that Miyuki was addressing him specifically, other than her other close (Akatsuki) companions. "Hai! Wouldn't it be cool if you too had a monument with your face on it, Lady Miyuki?" In fact, wouldn't it be cool if someday _his_ face was on a monument somewhere? The thought had him bubbling with excitement.

Miyuki couldn't help but chuckle, ruffling Akira's unruly hair. "Why should we steal someone's tradition? We should make our own." Of course, this only got the boy to start ranting about ideas, but Sakura had purposely done this, if only because his banter always helped to soothe her own concerns, and she supposed it would help to show the ANBU that they were definitely not hostile. She had learned long ago that Akira had a child-like charisma akin to Naruto; if it had worked for her and her Akatsuki friends, she was sure it would work for the ANBU team as well.

Before long, the monuments they had been speaking of were visible, and a little while after that the front gates, held open for their arrival with Tsunade standing there alongside some of her own shinobi.

 _'Here goes nothing...'_ Sakura stared on, her eyes empty and devoid of emotion. How long had it been since she had set foot in the village?

"Hokage-sama." She heard Neji speak, bowing before Tsunade in a respectful manner. "I present to you the Otokage and her shinobi."

"Arigatou. You're dismissed for now." From thereon, she turned her attention to the clearly identifiable Otokage, wearing a cloak and hat not unlike the one she currently wore now, contrary to her usual attire. "We humbly welcome you to Konoha, Nidaime Otokage and company." Tsunade stated, a smile on her features which, although seemingly normal, was not as genuine as Sakura knew it to be.

Sakura did not wait to step up and approach Tsunade until they were just a foot away. "Arigatou, Hokage-san." she gave a curt nod of respect.

"If you would please follow me, I will show you to your sleeping quarters so you may get settled in first and foremost. I apologize for the short notice of your invitation." Tsunade continued, holding out her hand for Miyuki to take.

"No need to apologize." Miyuki shook her head slightly. "I presume some form of immediate action should have been taken sooner or later; given the rumors, that is." Sakura's face was curved up in what could almost be considered a taunting smile, as she noticed Tsunade's smile twitch slightly.

 _'Well she's cutting to the chase, isn't she?'_ Tsunade mentally snorted, but did not let this comment get to her. "There shall be time to talk about that later." Tsunade dismissed Sakura's taunt. "What shall I refer to you as, Otokage-san? Your election was quite out of the blue, I don't think I've ever heard of you."

"Miyuki is fine." Sakura gave a nod, and as an afterthought added, "Although I'm sure you already knew that. I presume you had Jiraiya, your Sannin teammate, gather information on me, or am I wrong?"

Tsunade's smile twitched once more. "Nothing seems to get past you, Miyuki-san."

"Not much does." her smile was once again turned into an upwards victorious taunt. There was no way that Jiraiya, or any of his toads or informants for that matter, were going to step foot in the village to try and find out about her and she not realize it. "Although I am curious to know, what is it he was able to find on me?"

"In the spirit of honesty, not much other than your name, if that is even your real one, and your actions these past three years."

Sakura nodded, almost as if thanking Tsunade for her honesty, but let's be serious, Tsunade knew when to give up. This wasn't a battle for her to fight. "So what do I have this pleasure in doing here -the pretense, that is?" Sakura asked, and despite the animosity that should be there, Miyuki was as courteous as ever, almost as if she were exchanging common pleasantries with an old time friend.

"Well, as a neighboring country, I thought it only polite to invite you, in order for you to see who were are and what we stand for as a nation."

"That's mighty thoughtful of you, Hokage-sama." She gave a slight bow of thanks.

Tsunade declined to comment on her thanks, instead continuing to walk towards the heart of the city.

And so it had been, Konan and her new beautiful, elegant shinobi Kagami, and Akira, followed suit, Kagami alongside Sakura whilst the remaining two shinobi walked just a few short feet behind them, taking in the sight of Konoha -after all, neither of them had been inside Konoha walls, and as such had no idea what it looked like.

The town was bustling, Sakura quietly taking in the buildings -some new, most old, and people who reminded her of her past faintly, but she could no longer but a name to the face for the common villager even if she wanted to. Despite the chaos, all noticed the peculiar purple Kage hat following Tsunade around, and knowing the rumors of the arrival of the new Otokage, all knew to stay clear of Tsunade's path and simply stare from afar, taking in the sight of foreign kunoichi and shinobi alike (and who was that majestic beauty standing alongside the hooded Kage?).

They had almost made it to their destination, key word almost, when a sudden disturbance began approaching, through means of an annoying and ear-piercing shout. Of course, although most knew to stay out of their way, there was one particular case that care not for such formalities. " _TSUNADE-BAAAA~~!"_

Kagami could distinctly see Miyuki's body stiffen into a rigid and immobile stance as all shinobi halted their movements in search of the not-so mysterious voice. Her hand slipped out of her robe, her thumb brushing against the palm of Miyuki's hand discreetly. Said Otokage glanced upwards to her model-like companion, as she gave her Kage a small smile.

 _It'll be alright,_

She knew that this was what Itachi was trying to tell her, and she knew, had she not been wearing her kage hat that Itachi would be able to see the small droplets of sweat forming at her brow. Truthfully speaking, she didn't know who it would be the hardest to meet, although she sincerely hoped to not come across the likes of-

Well, it didn't even matter, because said shinobi she was thinking of was walking just a way's away from Naruto, in an almost irritated fashion.

"God damn it Sasuke. I told you to keep him busy." She could hear Tsunade's irritated tone as she muttered this under her breath, apparently not meant to be heard by her or the rest of her shinobi. Instead, she turned in an apologetic fashion. "I'm truly sorry. I tried to prolong your meeting with my idiotic shinobi, but he has a keen nose and likes to get himself into trouble."

Miyuki handled this well, lifting up a hand to stifle a laugh. "And why would his meeting me get him into trouble?" she mused.

"Because he does not know how to keep his mouth shut, and he has an inherent desire of challenging anyone who is a higher ranking than him." Tsunade could have rolled her eyes, turning to scowl at Sasuke -this was all his fault, she reasoned.

"Tch." Sasuke didn't bother with words, running his fingers through his hair in a Shikamaru-like fashion, settling for rolling his eyes and afterwards shoving his hands into his Jounin flak.

"Ohayo Tsunade-baachan! Is this the Otokage? Can I meet her?" he was as energetic as ever, trying to get past Tsunade to get a peek at the aforementioned Kage, but Tsunade was successfully pulling him by the collar and away from her.

"If you had bothered to listen to me at all, I am having her first and foremost put her belongings down, and then giving her a tour of the town to better acquaint her with Konoha, idiot." For added effect, she lay a punch atop Naruto's head, earning him a rightfully deserved bump.

Akira couldn't help but snicker at this, not gone unnoticed by the Jinchuuriki, who turned with a pout and narrowed eyes at the blue-haired nin. "And why are _you_ laughing, brat?" he scoffed, glaring at the boy.

"Because you just got put in your place, _brat."_ Akira retorted back, clearly amused. "And what makes you believe that you're important enough to meet with my Lady Miyuki as soon as she comes into the village?" Akira scoffed.

Naruto had never taken back-talk well, especially not from a younger generation, and as such he wasted no time to come up to Akira (by way of slipping out of the jacket Tsunade currently clung on to), regardless of Tsunade's attempts to steer him clear of Miyuki's entourage. "Listen here, shrimp. I'll have you know that I'm the future Hokage, so if I want to meet your so-called _Lady Miyuki_ ," he spoke obnoxiously, trying to mimic Akira's voice, "then I will, Dattebayo!"

Akira seemed to grow red -being picked at for his less than average height was always a sore spot for him. "What did you just call me?"

"You heard me, chibi-chan." Naruto joked, learning of his sore spot and reveling in it.

They were butting heads by this point, and as they continued to mock and taunt each other, all shinobi just stood back and watched, rolling their eyes at the idiocy displayed between the two shinobi.

"So I see you have one of those on your hands too." Miyuki stifled a laugh yet again. "I must admit they are a pain to keep around."

Tsunade glanced at Miyuki momentarily before turning her eyes back on the scene, and couldn't help but allow a small smile to frame her features. "Hai. They are."

"Now now Akira-kun. Be on your best behavior in front of the highly esteemed Tsunade." Miyuki called out to Akira, beckoning him to return alongside her (he and Naruto had advanced their bickering into a small tussle of sorts, after all).

Akira stopped almost immediately, fist mid-way to collide with Naruto's already sore bump, and in an instance he was alongside Miyuki, bowing apologetically to her first, and them promptly to Tsunade. "Gomenasai, I have brought dishonor to the Otokage name. Forgive Godaime Hokage-sama."

"Wow, you've trained him well. Care to share your secret?" Tsunade could have laughed.

Miyuki smiled, but did not comment on this immediately as she began to walk towards their destination. "No sharing necessary; I can tell your shinobi is also very loyal to you."

Tsunade acknowledged this with a nod, and began walking forward once more. "So you've heard of him, then."

"Hai. Naruto Uzumaki, container of the Nine Tailed Beast." Miyuki gave a small nod. "And that there is Uchiha Sasuke, right? One of the last remaining Uchiha alive."

Tsunade turned to look at the duo, Sasuke already dragging Naruto up onto his feet and scolding him for his idiocy (to pick a fight with a kid at least four years his junior? Please). "Hai, that would be him." Tsunade confirmed.

"Hai. They are in a team run by Konoha's own Copy-Cat nin, right? Although I can't remember their teammate off the top of my head." Miyuki stated as casual as ever.

"Saki." Tsunade answered for her. "She's a recent addition to their team, so to speak."

"So to speak?" Miyuki inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, she wasn't part of their Genin team. She was a replacement after their original comrade was determined KIA."

"Determined. So her body was never found, then?" Akira seemed interested in the story, confused by Tsunade's wording.

"Unfortunately there wasn't much left to find." Tsunade shifted her eyes elsewhere. "Alas, that is the life of a shinobi."

Akira nodded, pressing no further, particularly because they had arrived at their destination, a grand looking hotel with two floors. Tsunade led them up the stairs and into the corner-most room, opening it to reveal a suite, big in space and furnished extravagantly. "Although separate rooms, there is a door connecting this room with the next if you so choose to connect them." Tsunade explained, pointing to a door to the side of the room. "There is a bathroom in each, for privacy, and two beds in each room. If you would like separate rooms, this can also be arranged though." Tsunade explained.

"Oh, no need to be troubled, Tsunade. This will do just fine -thank you for your generosity."

"Not at all." Tsunade stated. "I shall leave you all to unpack and rest if you'd so like it. If not, then I can start showing you around, if you'd like."

"If you don't mind, my shinobi are a little tired. Perhaps an hour or so rest period would suffice?" By my shinobi, she clearly meant Akira, although she didn't want to make him self-conscious of the fact that he was the only one remotely tired from their journey.

"So be it. I will have one of my shinobi come to escort you into my office in an hour, if this is to your liking. From there on there I can give you an extensive tour of Konoha."

"I am interested in seeing your hospital, Tsunade." Miyuki admitted. "You are renown across the Lands for your medical expertise; I aspire to have my own hospital rival yours in terms of efficiency, so if it would not be too much to ask I'm really interested on the matter."

Tsunade was genuinely surprised at the information. So she was a bit of a medical ninja then, something she hadn't been informed of. "Sure. That'll be the first stop on our tour then, if it so pleases you."

"That sounds perfect." Miyuki stated, walking into the kitchen and placing her Kage hat down and then removing her robe, her long blonde her flowing out freely and falling down to the midsection of her back. Tsunade was almost taken aback, not expecting for her to reveal herself so openly in front of her (in all of Jiraiya's pictures of her in Oto, she was always covered up, after all), and especially to have a diamond on her forehead similar to her own, but she didn't comment on it. "Kagami-kun, can you take my pack to the bedroom, onegai?"

"Right away, Ojou-sama." her skilled, lithe fingers gripped the pack from Sakura's hands, and with a delicate, near perfectly executed bow, she turned to find her way to the bedroom. "A bath sounds divine. I hear Konoha has great onsens. Is this true, Tsunade?"

Tsunade blinked curiously at the interaction between Miyuki and her shinobi. "Yes they are nice, lest Jiraiya is in town." she half-joked, but there was clearly some truth in her statement.

"Ahh yes, I've heard of the rumors. A sannin whose skill and prowess are rivaled only by his perverse nature." she quirked a small amused smile.

Akira's eyes seemed to widen alarmingly. "Lady Miyuki, you must not go! What if there's creeps lurking by the onsen?"

Tsunade laughed. "There's typically nothing to worry about, save Naruto, but I promise you he'll be on his best behavior. Plus, I have Sasuke assigned to him to keep him out of trouble during your stay. If you'd like, I can book us an onsen after your tour. It'd help to unwind, and you can also get to know a few more of my shinobi and staff." Tsunade stated, mostly praying her promise would be kept. How could she possibly tell her some of her best shinobi were nothing but a perverse bunch of men?

Miyuki smiled, clearly pleased. "That sounds delightful. Arigatou, Tsunade."

"No need to thank me. I'll have one of my shinobi come and get you in an hour, then." And so it had been, and Tsunade had excused herself, leaving Sakura alone with her shinobi. Truth be told, they weren't particularly tired (save for Akira, not used to traveling at the speed in which Sakura, Itachi, and Konan were), but she had wanted this time to prepare herself nonetheless.

"Konan, if you could make sure to take note of their medical advancements while we take a tour of the hospital, that would be great." Sakura merely nodded.

"Hai." Konan nodded, remaining silent about the matter she truly wanted to discuss -Naruto and Sasuke, her former team. She knew Itachi to be curious as well, but now was neither the time nor place for such matters.

"Akira-kun, you should rest up. It's been a long journey for you."

Akira seemed indignant of the fact that he seemed to be the only one in need of a nap, but he relented, and excused himself into one of the two bedrooms -they were identical, so it mattered not which he took. "Hai. Arigatou, Lady Miyuki." Truth be told, he knew she had done this for him. As he walked into the bedroom Kagami walked out, not that Akira paid too much attention to it, clearly tired and in need of a nap.

After Akira had retired to his bedroom, there was an odd sort of silence as Konan and Itachi seemed to search the place -for what wasn't apparent, although Sakura had expected it.

"The bathrooms and bedrooms are clear; no bugs." Kagami stated calmly.

"As is the kitchen and living room." Konan agreed with a nod. Sakura beckoned Itachi and Konan to her location, sitting atop a high-chair by the kitchen island. "Like I said, it's not like them to booby trap a place. You can drop the henge for now if you'd like, Itachi. You'll tire if you don't."

"Iee." Itachi shook his head slightly. "I would not be surprised if they were watching us closely now. It is better I remain in this state."

"I am likened to agree with Itachi." Konan agreed.

Sakura sighed. "If you say so." Even if she said this, she turned her gaze to stare out the window of the hotel room, a beautiful scenery of Konoha laid out before her.

 _A place that had been her home..._

A place that had housed her for the better part of her life, and here she was a stranger to its doors; not entirely shunned but not exactly welcomed either.

"I'm going to report to Pein of our successful arrival." Konan stated before she dismissed herself into one of the two bedrooms for privacy, which left Itachi and Sakura alone to stare at their old home.

"Not much seems to have changed." Sakura stated, half in a daze as her mind began to bring her back to the past. "What do you think, Itachi?" she turned to look at him slightly.

He did not respond immediately, pondering this statement and looking from the village back to Sakura. "Iee. Everything has."

* * *

 **End of Chapter**

 **So, this is where the two sequels kind of break away from the same plot. Where as the Sakura here decides to go, the Sakura in (S) decides to make them come to her. I figured this was the simplest way for the stories to break apart, and hopefully it'll make for a refreshing change for any of you who plan on reading both sequels, although I've already had numerous reviewers state that they would more than likely only read this one XD**

 **So there's a bit of character development here for Akira, simply because I do what him to be relevant to the plot in the future. Plus I like him, I think he's adorable and resembles kind of what Konohamaru was to Naruto.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you all thought? =] Reviews where wonderful for last chapter ^_^ Keep it up guys! More motivation = faster updates c:**

 **Any and all feedback is much appreciated!**

 **-MarzSpy**

 **P.S. Check my profile for updates on what it is I am currently working on, and if you haven't already, vote on my poll to have an input on what it is I prioritize!**


	3. Onsen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form**

 **Chapter 3: Onsen**

While Akira rested, Itachi, Konan, and Sakura took to planning out their stay here, such as what notes they would take, and what questions they would ask -in particular about being deceptively careful about the information they let leak. Every statement would be deliberate, carefully planned to not reveal too much about them.

"Needless to say, we'll have to hope Akira doesn't slip up either." Konan frowned slightly. It was a shame that they could not confide in him fully -after having gotten to know him well enough, she discovered he truly was a great kid. But that was the issue: he was a kid, and as such Sakura did not want to entangle him in these messy politics. Until he was mature enough to learn about the mess that Sakura had in a way entangled them in, then he had no true business being here.

"He'll be fine." Sakura ascertained with a nod. "He doesn't know anything that would put us at risk, other than your identities. But he has never slipped up once before; I have utmost confidence in him." Plus, it wouldn't hurt that this would be a learning experience for Akira, and now that Sakura was successfully Otokage, it was also her duty to start looking into a successor, even if it was early on in her reign. Because she was playing a dangerous game, not just in alliancing herself with the Akatsuki, but also in coming here, she needed to have a back up plan for her nation. If her identity ever became compromised, she would have to step down from power, and if that were to ever be the case, she would have to have someone she could trust take over in her stead; and Akira was as good as any to do just that, given she had time to properly train him.

Konan sighed. "Let's hope so."

* * *

Akira had been woken up ten minutes before the one hour mark had been up, and after being reminded that this was a mission and that they had to be careful with the information that they divulged, they were left to lounge around languidly until there had been a sudden knock on their door. Kagami had approached the door and opened it, to reveal a thin, dark-haired woman with a round, plump pig in her arms.

"K-Konnichiwa... I'm Kato Shizune," she introduced herself hesitantly, her eyes roaming the room to finally settle upon the figure of the Otokage, seated on the couch alongside her remaining shinobi, "I have been instructed by Tsunade-sama to escort you to her office-" her sentence trailed off awkwardly -she wanted to say more, felt like she should, but felt too tense to even think about what to say.

The familiar, estranged sister-like figure had made Sakura's heart skip a beat, although none would have known it. "Konnichiwa, Kato-san" Kagami spoke, stepping aside and allowing the kunoichi in with a small bow. "You are Tsunade's right hand, yes?"

Shizune nodded wordlessly.

Miyuki said nothing, standing up -and as she did so her shinobi followed in a heartbeat. "Well then, let's not keep Lady Tsunade waiting."

"R-Right... if you guys would follow me, then." And nearly as soon as Shizune had arrived at their doorstep she was already exiting, but this time with a trail of foreign shinobi behind her.

They seemed to follow casually, although Shizune knew better, and also knew it was no coincidence that Miyuki had been sort of encircled by her own shinobi, a sort of protective bubble, it would seem, even if Konoha was as safe as it could get.

But no other words were spoken within the group, and even Akira, usually playful and quite curious and excited, took on a more serious demeanor. He knew how vital this was for his village, after all, and how important it was for his Lady Miyuki to show Konoha her best -and he had already made one blunder simply by fighting with the damned blondey anyway. He had to make it up to Lady Miyuki with impeccable behavior he knew he could have from this point on.

They had arrived at the Academy soon enough -the Hokage's office subsequently in its confines, and this is when Shizune finally began to speak again. "Tsunade-sama has already organized your stay here, and has asked a handful of her shinobi to keep you company for the nights festivities." she informed Miyuki vaguely -obviously Tsunade would explain to her the specifics.

Miyuki nodded, but said nothing else as Shizune led them inside and to a place that Sakura was all too familiar with.

Shizune knocked twice, waiting for Tsunade's typical "Come in," before opening the door and stepping aside to allow their guests inside.

"Miyuki." Tsunade greeted with a small smile, pleased to see the Otokage once more. "I take it you had a good rest?"

"Hai, arigatou Tsunade." Yet, Miyuki could not say she was all too focused on this conversation -there were others in the room, after all, and they were standing awkwardly beside Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade could tell that Miyuki (and her companions) were curious about the two kunoichi beside her, and as such changed the subject. "Ahh yes, let me introduce to you my kunoichi." Tsunade smiled slightly, turning to face the two kunoichi beside her. "You've already met my assistant Shizune. These two here are Hinata, and Ino, the Hyuga and Yamanaka clan heiress's respectively."

Miyuki bowed, greeting them humbly. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." Her face remained completely stoic and professional, although her inner thoughts were trying their best to not derail into madness.

Hinata smiled meekly alongside Ino, who did the same and bowed. "The pleasure is all ours, Otokage-sama." Ino remarked, although internally she couldn't help but wonder why Tsunade had insisted that she and Hinata meet and greet the Otokage personally.

Miyuki nodded, returning her attention to Tsunade. "Kato-san has informed me you've made plans for us tonight?"

"Hai." Tsunade affirmed with a small nod. "I've made some reservations at a barbecue place for dinner. I have invited a handful of my shinobi as well; the finest rookies in Konoha."

Miyuki's stomach could have sunk, but she didn't let Tsunade's words affect her. "It'll be a pleasure getting to know the finest of what Konohagakure has to offer, then." Miyuki answered with a small smile.

Tsunade seemed pleased with this response. "Afterwards, I've especially reserved the onsen for us tonight, Miyuki." Tsunade stated. "You and your shinobi will enjoy this; it's one of the nicest in all of the Fire Country. There will be some men to keep Akira company on the male's side too, if he and Naruto could get along well enough for one night."

Miyuki chuckled as she turned to stare at Akira, who tensed and blushed immediately at suddenly having his blunder brought to light once more. "He'll be good, I promise."

"I'd like to promise the same with Naruto, but I don't want to be held to my word in the future." Tsunade stated, half sarcastic, although they both knew some truth coated her words.

Miyuki laughed, but said nothing further as Tsunade began to lead her and her shinobi out of her office, and to a barbecue place which Sakura was awfully familiar with. Conversation had picked up casually between Tsunade and Miyuki, Ino and Hinata as well making small talk with Kagami and Konan, up until their arrival at the barbecue place.

She had found, not surprisingly, several members of her former Rookie 9 already seated there, and a few faces she wasn't particularly familiar with, although she didn't let it bother her. She and her shinobi were led down to a row of seats and greeted cordially by the bunch, repeating names Sakura need not to her and her shinobi. After the initial tension and awkwardness of meeting new people had died down, Tsunade had began conversation with Miyuki and her shinobi -asking what life in Oto was like and how it must have been tough to take over a nation that was so corroded with Orochimaru's mark.

"It was not an easy feat." Miyuki acknowledged with a small nod. "But if you would like to see Oto in its current state, I do implore you consider visiting us on another occasion." She was of course playing the part of a foreign diplomat, for if she could have it her way, Tsunade and all of her Konoha shinobi would stay far, far away from Oto.

Tsunade merely smiled in response. "I thank you for the offer; hopefully I'll be able to in the near future."

Conversation had paused momentarily as their waiter had arrived at their table to take their order, which apparently would be paid for at Tsunade's expense (declared when the waiter had asked how he should split the bill).

A sudden, near animalistic glint had appeared on the features of three separate shinobi.

"Well in that case, double my order!" Naruto exclaimed loudly with glee. "Thanks, Baa-san!"

Chouji, not one to hold back, had tripled his order, and Kiba had as well, nudged on my Akamaru, laying low at his feet underneath the table.

Tsunade glared, but at the act Miyuki merely snorted. "If it makes you feel any better, I have a few of those myself." Miyuki chuckled slightly, staring over at Akira who merely looked down in embarrassment.

"I'm a growing boy, Lady Miyuki." he countered with a pout and a fearsome glare.

"Hai, hai, that you are." More than anything else, she had been referring to Kisame though, whose love for cooking was only rivaled and superseded by his love for eating.

It had been easy to fall into conversation with everyone, especially with the help of Akira and Naruto already arguing left and right, and although Kagami was at first wary of how this setting might affect not just Akira, but Miyuki as well, she was pleased to find that despite the relatively casual vibe of the conversation, Miyuki's shoulders were still pinched back in discreet tension -she would not let her guard down simply because these were her former teammates, and it alleviated him greatly.

Her resolution was set in stone.

Dinner had seemingly gone by in a flurry; dinner eaten, desserts passed out, and bellies full. Even after everyone had finished respectively, they had stuck around, casually talking as they digested their food, up until Tsunade suggested they now go to the onsen for some relaxation -surely their travels left them which tense muscles needing some relaxation.

-And although Sakura wasn't particularly tired, nor were her more seasoned company, they really could not turn it down, and as such Miyuki had accepted this offer -some of Tsunade's shinobi had then excused themselves, obviously not attending the onsen with them, but others -namely Shizune, Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Lee, Kiba (and Akamaru), Naruto, and Sasuke (Tsunade had figured they would make good company for the lad, a little bit of obnoxious excitement and calm relaxation between all five of her Konoha shinobi) continued on their way to the onsen.

They had entered the establishment -the staff obviously ready to host the Hokage's private party, and they had been treated with meticulous care and kindness as they were greeted and led to the onsens, obviously split by gender.

It didn't occur to Miyuki the predicament that this would put them in, and hadn't actually noticed the problem until it was actually time for them to separate though, the bamboo panels dividing the male section with that of the female -a boundary which Kagami was clearly reluctant on passing given her real identity as a one hundred percent anatomical male. In fact, even Akira hesitated, his eyes flickering from Kagami to Miyuki in confusion and refusal (His Lady Miyuki being gazed upon by the lustful gaze of one Uchiha Itachi? Over his dead body!).

But no one had noticed the small interaction between the trio as all shinobi, male and female alike began to enter past the bamboo panels, until Ino turned back to notice none of the three shinobi had moved. "Kagami-san?" Ino had questioned, noticing that she had stopped right before actually entering the locker room. "Is something the matter?"

Miyuki turned, making direct eye contact with Itachi and almost immediately understanding his conflict, but she said not a word. "I respectfully decline the invitation. I shall wait for you here, Ojou-sama; it would be inappropriate for me to join you." he directed this statement towards Sakura, bowing courteously.

Ino could have blushed by how much of a queen she made the Otokage out to be. "Oh, don't be so modest, Kagami-san. We're all women here; and as much as you may make her out to be, being a Kage does not make her royalty." Ino laughed loudly, grabbing Kagami by the arm, an act which made her flinch at the contact, but she made not a word or a sound, or even action against the obtrusive touch.

"If you do not wish to join us, that is perfectly fine, Kagami." Miyuki merely stated, trying to appease her shinobi, if only because she knew what it meant otherwise.

"Nonsense." Tsunade shook her head firmly. "If Konan and Akira are indulging, there is no reason for Kagami to not as well." Decidedly, Ino had grabbed one of Kagami's arms, and Tsunade the other, securing her position alongside them.

"I-It's fine, I'll wait here with Kagami, then." Akira had nearly at once put his foot down, not allowing Kiba, who had an arm around the young lad, to pull him in any longer. He had to do something -how could he allow someone who he knew to be inherently a man to go into an onsen where Lady Miyuki would be, scantily clad? Especially in knowing what he knew? Especially with the way he felt about her?

No -this simply would not do.

"You're being ridiculous Akira." Naruto rolled his eyes -in fact, Kagami was too, but he did not feel comfortable enough with the near perfect kunoichi to tell her as such. "We came here to keep you company, brat. Don't make my perfectly valuable time wasted." he retorted, joining Kiba in dragging the boy into the onsen.

"T-T-Tsunade-sama..." Hinata stated nervously, not finding the intrusive contact to the Otokage's shinobi acceptable as she turned to look from Akira, being dragged away by Naruto and Kiba, to Kagami, being nudged un by Ino. Truth be told, she hadn't even wanted to be here -knowing that she was naked and that one simple wall separated her from Naruto did not bode well for her inner nerves. She had only come because Tsunade had forced her to, saying it would be good for relations to show Miyuki their hospitality.

"Ojou-sama-" But Kagami had not a word she could muster as she was literally dragged in to the locker room by not just Ino, but now Tsunade as well, both stronger than they appeared, although he had expected this from Tsunade. Once he was had crossed the boundary and was dragged in, there truly was no going back, and with a microscopic sight he looked at Miyuki, trailing along behind them, with an apologetic glance. She acknowledged it with her own hesitant smile, as if telling Itachi this was not his fault, and they would simply have to make do with the circumstances they had been dealt. As such, no more words were exchanged between the two of them up until they had successfully reached the locker rooms. The Konoha shinobi engaged in joyous banter as they began to undress, and Itachi respectfully so turned around, facing a corner as he slowly began to remove his tunic, all too aware of Sakura's location in the locker room among all the others.

If no one else, Konan was highly amused by the situation, and as such engaged in conversation with the Konoha shinobi, to distract them from the fact that neither Miyuki nor Kagami were currently undressing like the rest of them.

Before long, all the women, save for the two aforementioned kunoichi, were undressed and wearing nothing but a skimpy towel around their midsections, just barely able to cover all of the essentials. "Geez, you two take forever." Ino frowned. "We'll be in the water."

"Yeah, hurry on, Kagami-kun, Lady Miyuki." Konan called out, a glint in her eyes teasing them both, but they did not bother to respond as the five kunoichi disappeared behind the bamboo panels and entered the onsen.

Tension filled the air. "A-Anno..." Sakura spoke hesitantly. "If you'd like to leave-"

"It is fine. I do not want to raise suspicion." Itachi merely stated as a sigh escaped his lips. He turned respectfully as he began to undress. "I will wait for you to enter the onsen before I go in." At least in this way he wouldn't even catch a glimpse of Sakura in a towel -Kami smite him if he did.

Sakura blushed hesitantly. "H-Hai..." Although nerve-wrecking, Sakura hurriedly undressed, making sure to wrap the towel securely around her body. Without so much as another word, she began to walk away, sparing Itachi one more glance (although he couldn't see, his stark naked feminine back facing her), before she stepped out into the open.

"The water is great, Lady Miyuki." Konan called out with a small smile. "Come on in."

Sakura gave a small smile, glad to have some real feminine contact to distract her from the realization that she was bathing half-naked in front of Itachi. With a nod, she had stepped into the onsen and succumbed to its warmth -almost immediately after she had done so, Kagami had stepped out of the bamboo panels and emerged from the locker room, where she casually made her way into the onsen as well. Sakura could not help the small blush that rose to her cheeks, and so she glanced at Konan inconspicuously, almost as if questioning her why she wasn't self-conscious.

But why would she be? Itachi was a gentleman, despite his reputation -and besides, his eyes would not be on her, if they were on anybody to begin with. And regardless of all of this, she was a kunoichi, one who had had the unfortunate displeasure of having to bare her body for missions before -this was hardly a bother, especially because she knew Itachi and knew he would never even consider seeing Konan that way (it didn't hurt that she was nearly eight years his senior and after all the time they had spent together in the past few years, she had grown to see him as a younger brother, almost).

Kagami had emerged with her hair tied up into a bun, with stray curly strands falling out of its confines and framing her face. The heat flushed her cheeks pink, the towel just barely hiding everything it was supposed to, and for a second all the women in the onsen were mesmerized by Kagami's beauty (and why was the male the prettiest woman here, Miyuki couldn't help but wonder with much amusement).

"You sure are beautiful, Kagami-san. I'm envious." Ino frowned -her features looked so feminine, so _flawless,_ that it made her jealous. Why didn't she have skin like that? Why didn't her skin have that dark, feminine glow to it?

Sakura couldn't help but snicker slightly. "She get's that a lot."

Kagami sent her a glance, but said no more as she slowly made her way into the onsen, carefully placed as far away from any of the other females in the onsen.

Despite the tension Miyuki felt, she had fallen into comfortable conversation with the women in the onsen. Truth be told, she hadn't expected it to be so easy to converse with them, especially not Hinata or Ino, but it was, and it made Sakura reluctantly admit that she had missed their company. Not that Konan wasn't superb company, but she was her senior by at least thirteen years; regardless of the fact that the two heiress's were currently unaware of it, Miyuki had grown up with them, something that went a long way for Sakura's nostalgic mind.

-And she wasn't the only one to notice this. Even Tsunade was having a hard time believing this was the same Kage she had opened her doors to just earlier that day. She had seemed so tense and on edge (although rightfully so, she supposed), but now it seemed like her walls were down and it made for a refreshing side of Miyuki that Tsunade honestly hadn't expected.

-And truth be told, Itachi and Konan could see this difference in Sakura, although they dare not comment on it.

The herbal water did much to hide what was underneath, of which both Sakura and Itachi were glad for, as the Konoha kunoichi removed their towels and folded them beside them. Naturally, the Oto kunoichi did too (with hesitancy from none but one).

"Miyuki-san, would you mind passing me the pale behind you?" Ino had asked out loud, motioning to the small wooden bucket behind the Kage, just out of her reach.

Miyuki blinked, turning around to look at the item which Ino had asked for. She had to lift herself up off the water slightly, although this did not matter much because she was facing away from Itachi, but upon doing so it left her bare back open for inspection -but no, not from Itachi, although he had looked.

Because that's when all Konoha shinobi were able to see the injuries on her back, and it made them all shift uncomfortably.

Hinata's eyes in particular lingered on the pink, scarred tissue on Sakura's back as she leaned to reach for the small wooden pale. Her back was marred with scars, clearly old, but blistered in an unsightly manner -neither Ino nor Hinata could help but frown at the injuries. Tsunade and Shizune had instantly taken note of it, but had not reacted in the slightest -they had lived through war, and had seen worse, after all.

It was then that Ino suddenly realized that perhaps Miyuki had been hesitant to undress before them in fear that they would see her scars, clearly self-conscious about it, and it made her feel a little guilty. Once Miyuki turned around, their eyes had shifted elsewhere, although Itachi and Konan knew that they would be asking about it nonetheless.

Sakura moved to hand the pale over to Ino and then once more succumbed to the warm water, oblivious to what everyone in the onsen was thinking.

"Those are extensive injuries on your back, Miyuki." Tsunade stated casually.

Miyuki turned, slightly surprised that they had been watching her with enough detail to note this (then again, it wasn't like it was particular hard to see if anyone was looking at that given direction anyway). "But yes, you are not wrong. An unfortunate repercussion of our line of work, nee?" Sakura tried to brush it aside with a small smile.

Tsunade wasn't entirely convinced -these were all areas that one would typically be protecting (she could tell most were exit wounds, meaning that whatever she had in the back, she similarly held in the front too), vital points you make sure you cover extensively. If they were injuries on her arms or legs, or even her face, she would understand, but these spots were personal, intimate spots -not a sexual sort of intimate, but places you protect above all else when in the field because injuries there meant certain death without a village nearby for surgery. So how had she been wounded so severely before? "Were you betrayed, Miyuki?" It was a logical conclusion, one which she and Shizune had apparently come to at around the same time, for she had seen the way that Shizune had looked up at Miyuki with pity.

Miyuki blinked, and for a few seconds her face was absolutely devoid of any expression, until it turned into a small smile. "Hai. A former teammate of mine, during a mission long ago." her smile revealed nothing of her true feelings on the matter, and it was clear to all around her that this was done as a self-defense mechanism; clearly whatever had happened to her still affected her today, and as such Tsunade did not pry much more on the topic of her teammate.

"You choose to still trust those around you with injuries like those? Don't mind me saying, but by the looks of it you should have died." Tsunade commented, her eyes having expertly evaluated the severity of what was once her injuries before she had hidden it from view. Half of those injuries were directly over vital organs, after all. "These weren't healed by conventional medical nin-jutsu, were they?" she added as an afterthought. If they had, no way it would have scarred up as badly as they did, after all.

"My past experiences have taught me to be careful with those I let close to me, that is all. I haven't had a betrayal from any of my shinobi since then yet, and I don't expect one anytime soon." Sakura dismissed Tsunade's forewarning. "And to answer your question, they were treated primarily through raw suturing and medical herbs. No chakra was involved whatsoever."

"And why is that?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow curiously.

"No medic was available to me at the time of my injuries." Miyuki merely smiled, a smile that implied for them to not push any further with this topic.

"You said that you don't expect anyone to betray you any time soon. Why is that, Lady Miyuki?" Ino questioned courteously, respecting the wall that Miyuki had built but also curious to understand her thought process.

"There is something to note about a village so grateful to you that they'd even be willing to follow you into a senseless battle or fight to come with you to a boring meeting between two Kages." Miyuki stated calmly. "I gave three years of my life fighting relentlessly for these people; and they have noted this, and have given me their full devotion in return."

"I can see why that would be useful." Tsunade commented with a nod.

Miyuki raised an eyebrow at this, turning to face Tsunade fully. "By no means would I use the word useful, Tsunade. These are my people. I live and breath to end their hardships; I only ask that they put their trust in me while doing so. There is nothing that I am doing, or intend on doing, that won't benefit my people in the long run."

Tsunade seemed to contemplate this piece of wisdom, knowing that Miyuki was directly implying her contact with Akatsuki, but nevertheless, she spoke so earnestly Tsunade couldn't help but believe in her. Why was someone so young so... eye-opening? Almost as if she had seen and lived through more than she should have?

* * *

Despite the strange company, Akira had to admit that he actually... enjoyed it. Don't get him started on how they got an enormous dog into the onsen, but once they had all settled down, their conversations had begun, all loud in their own respects save for the ones called Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke -someone who Akira would be especially wary of, given his direct connection and lineage to the man posing as a woman on the other side of the onsen.

The one named Lee had disappeared as soon as they had began to undress, only to return five minutes later with several bottles of sake, and suddenly what had been a relaxing venue had turned rowdier than he knew how to deal with.

"Come Akira, drink with us." Naruto motioned him towards a shot glass, already filled with the liquid, waiting for Akira to take.

"Iie, I'm fine." Akira adamantly refused. Truth be told, he had only ever had sake once before, for a Christmas party that Sera had thrown the year before, and it had not been a pretty sight.

"Oh please, you're among friends." Lee stated, most youthfully. "What harm can be done?"

But a lot of harm could be done, and Akira found out just how much as he was suckered into a couple shots of sake. He was not drunk; no, despite his low tolerance, it would take much more for him to get to that point, but he would admit he was buzzed and not thinking as clearly as he should.

But, at least, the same seem to be the case for everyone save the Uchiha who had refused to be caught up in Lee's and Naruto's silly antics (and what silly antics were those?).

But eventually everyone had settled into the onsen with boisterous laughter and conversation -all save for one blonde, who was poking and prodding the bamboo panel that separated the women's side to the man's. "Naruto, what you are attempting to do is most unyouthful." Lee spoke, attempting to be stern -even so, it sounded more like he was intrigued, as he removed himself from the onsen and began to do the same with Naruto.

Kiba merely began to holler out in laughter. "Are you really trying to peep at the Otokage? That's admirable." Kiba stated, lifting his cup of sake as if to toast to Naruto's dubious needs.

"W-W-What?!" Akira stood, quite alarmed, a threatening glare (at least, what was supposed to look like it) sent towards Naruto's, and now Lee's, direction.

Shikamaru sighed -why were his teammates unrepentant perverts? "Everyone knows that the owner of this establishment fortified the panels specifically because of Jiraiya and yourself, Naruto." Not that he cared much -but he was tired of seeing Lee's butt-naked behind and thoroughly wished for it to return under the water and away from his view.

"Man, that's no fun." Naruto sighed and with a defeated scowl, he turned to Lee -and them immediately looked away. "Lee, come on, at least put a towel on. Come on." He would have dragged the nin, but decided he didn't want to be anywhere near his manly tid-bits hanging out in the open.

"How dare you try and peep on my Lady Miyuki." Akira stood up menacingly as Naruto approached the onsen.

"Calm down pipsqueak." Naruto snorted. "I had no intentions on peeping on _her."_ Even so, Kagami and Hinata were also on the other side of that bamboo panel -two beautiful kunoichi with equally ample bossoms. "But by the blush on your face, it looks like _you_ want to, neh?"

"Naruto." Sasuke suddenly spoke, speaking with mild apprehension at the sudden glint that had appeared on Naruto's face.

"W-W-What?! No! That's p-p-preposterous!"

His face expression and stuttering buffoonery said it all.

Needless to say, Naruto entered the onsen and walked right over to Akira with a wicked grin, and wrapped his arm around the nin. "So what is it that you do see in her, hmm?"

And with a little bit of coaxing from Lee, Kiba, and Chouji, he spilled everything, he remarkable she was, her strength, her beauty, her kindness and intelligence, and how he had once seen her in a towel getting out of the shower (She had thought nothing of the encounter, which only further proved that she saw him as nothing more than a child), and he had absolutely lost it.

"Well Akira, as a man, it would be remiss of me to not let your dreams of seeing your Lady Miyuki the way I know you've probably dreamt of her."

"Naruto." this time Sasuke had spoken with a much more serious tone -he had also known the bamboo panels to be fortified, so he didn't care about Naruto's failed attempts. But as dumb as everyone thought Naruto to be (including him), he was also deathly aware of the fact that Naruto always had something up his sleeves -and if Sasuke had found the loophole to Shikamaru's statement, he had a feeling that so did Naruto.

"W-W-What do you mean? The walls-" he tried to find an excuse to not do exactly what Naruto was coaxing him into doing, but the alcohol was beating defiantly against his chest.

 _Why was Itachi allowed to be in there with her, and he couldn't even sneak a peak?_

"Perhaps the walls -but they did not do the same with the roof, ne?" as he asked his question, he turned to look at Shikamaru with confirmation.

"..."

"..."

"Whatever you're plotting, count me out." Shikamaru sighed, a hand raking through his long hair. Even though he said this, he had a feeling that they were all going to suffer dearly for Naruto's indiscretions, and it royally sucked -why were they always punished for Naruto's idiocies?

In return, Naruto merely gave Shikamaru a thumbs up, turned once more towards Akira, a confident flicker in his orbs. "Come, young one. I will turn you into a man tonight."

* * *

"So," Ino began casually, "do any of you guys have any boyfriends? Or, emm, girlfriends? I don't judge." Ino smiled hesitantly.

Konan laughed in response. "Iie. In between my duties and daily life, I hardly find I have the time." Konan stated simply. "The same goes for them -I swear they spend more time with each other than anyone else. Maybe they _are_ together." Of course it was meant entirely as a joke, but only Sakura and Itachi knew the true underlying meaning behind her words, and it made Miyuki scowl. Accordingly, she had grabbed her towel and thrown it at Konan's face with a scowl, who merely took it, stuck her tongue out at Sakura, and threw it out of the onsen and onto the floor behind her.

"Don't listen to Konan, she's just being a troll." Miyuki stated with a roll of her eyes. "And of you guys?"

"Hinata here has had an undying crush one somebody you met earlier today." Ino stated with a snicker.

"Oh, is that so?" Miyuki feigned intrigue -truth be told, she already knew the answer to this question. "And of you, Ino-san?"

Ino chuckled hesitantly. "Well, that's...-"

But before Ino had the time to bashfully answer her question, Kagami had stood upright in a defensive manner that had alerted the remaining kunoichi that something was wrong.

In an instant there was a crumbling noise -no, a crashing noise, and with two loud yelps of fear two shinobi came crashing down from the ceiling and landed on the floor of the onsen, just a few feet away from the water.

All the kunoichi had tensed immediately, poking out of the water deftly (before Naruto and Akira were no longer disoriented by their fall) to grab their towels and secure it around them.

But Sakura lacked her towel, having thrown it at Konan, and with an alarmed look she turned to stare at Naruto and Akira. But in an instant Kagami was before Sakura, removing her own towel and throwing it straight at Sakura. But she had no time to wrap it around her body, seeing as there was a commotion -footsteps already hurriedly approaching them, and suddenly Kagami had simply pulled Miyuki straight into her, their skin practically touching if not for the thin barrier of towel between them.

Konan had covered herself up using her origami paper, and it was all Itachi could do to protect Sakura's innocence by embracing her and covering her body with "her" own, her stark behind for the viewing pleasure of both males who proceeded to have a nose bleed at the sudden sight before them. But of course, the ruckus of the roof caving in just _had to_ cause more males to flood in, namely Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Lee, and at the sight of Kagami holding the Otokage so closely, so intimately even, in such a compromising position, half the males couldn't help but either blush or turn their faces to look away.

Heat rose to Miyuki's face almost immediately, able to sense "Kagami's" strong arms tugging her forward by the waist into her embrace. Her arms wrapped possessively around Sakura and simultaneously pushing her back, caging her between Kagami's own body and the boulder behind her, a thin, small towel the only thing between their bodies.

The tricky thing about henges was, it could give you what you had not, but it could not take away what you did. As such, despite the fact that Sakura could feel firm and ample breasts upon her own, Sakura could also inherently feel a pressure just a little further south from her stomach which wouldn't normally be there if this was truly a woman pressed up against her. _'Itachi's-_ she couldn't even finish the thought, lest she faint.

This distraction alone was probably the only reason she hadn't already castrated both Naruto and Akira, and promptly afterwards every other male that had barged into the onsen, but it seemed she would not have to.

It took a few seconds for the reality of the situation to sink in to all occupants (namely the females) of the room, but once it finally did, it seemed that every woman in the room was on the same page: murder.

 **"Na-ru-to!"**

Although Tsunade subsequently stomped her way out of the water and picked Naruto up by the throat, she failed to realize that Akira was holding on to dear life, because Konan was already dealing with him, and as an effort to not be dragged away by the murderous Akatsuki member, he clung on for dear life to Naruto -more specifically, his only article of clothing for him to latch onto, his towel.

Within the next second, Naruto was left bare for the world to see, successfully causing the Hyuga heiress to faint straight into the water, and Ino, being the trust-worthy friend that she was, stopped her own murderous rampage on Kiba and Shikamaru respectively to return to the heiress' side to make sure that her towel did not somehow float away from her body.

"Itachi get them out." Sakura muttered nervously, obviously under her breath as frantic panic began to set in -she didn't know if it was because of her nudity and the Konoha nin though, or of it was because of the intimate position between herself and Itachi, though.

Kagami did not have to be told twice, and she gladly obliged her Ojou-sama. In an instant Kagami turned around (naked, for all of their viewing pleasure, might I add), although still hiding Miyuki from their view, but within the next second every male respectively was down on the ground unconscious, a genjutsu so strong overpowering each of them simply because they were both unprepared and already weak by the sight before them.

* * *

Nearly all the males respectively woke up in the hospital an hour later with severe injuries to their being (courtesy of Ino and Tsunade, and Konan on Akira's behalf), and a throbbing headache as they tried to desperately forgot the horrific genjutsu that Kagami had cast over them -one that had completely wiped their memory clean of the incident, not to mention, so even if Naruto would have thought their actions to be well worth it, he had found no recollection of what he had seen within the onsen.

"Quite frankly, you're all lucky that's all Kagami did to you all." Tsunade glared sternly at her shinobi -Akira included, all laying down in respective hospital beds in a large rest area. Alongside the wounded men were Tsunade, Ino, Miyuki, and her two kunoichi, all standing there menacingly with glares on their features.

But of course Akira was the only one to immediately react to this, as he immediately got out of his bed, despite his injuries, went straight over to Miyuki, and got on his knees to bow. "G-G-GOMEN LADY MIYUKI!" He hollered with tears in his eyes. "I was drunk and that idiot Naruto got the best of my young and hormonal teenage mind! Please punish me however you see fit!"

Naruto merely scoffed in the background, but would not mention anything about his crush on the Kage -he had more honor than to throw Akira under the bus.

"We'll deal with your indiscretions once we get back, Akira." It was Kagami who spoke, not Miyuki, as she looked down at him with a glint in her eyes that made Akira's soul want to leave his body. Because he was sure Itachi was sure to give him a hell like no other, and Akira merely whimpered in fear and retreated as far away from the fake-kunoichi as possible.

"I'm going to die." he muttered under his breath, crying and hiding in a corner of the room, and Naruto couldn't help but agree -he hadn't thought it before, but my Kami Kagami was utterly frightening.

"Anyway, while you idiots rest up, I'm going to have a conversation with Miyuki." Tsunade stated sternly. "And know that if I ever catch you peeping on our guests again, I will give you a hell worse than Kagami did, Naruto no baka." Tsunade stated with a tone so filled with promise that Naruto didn't doubt it one bit, and it had made him join Akira in his corner of terror and misfortune.

Miyuki snickered slightly as she turned to Konan. "Stay here and keep an eye on Akira, nee? You can meet back up with us once he feels well enough to leave, which by the looks of it won't be much longer." Because he an Naruto were inherently fighting once more -blaming the other for this entire mess.

 _You dragged me onto the roof to begin with you perverted oaf!_

 _Yeah but you're the one who caved the roof in you idiot!_

Konan rolled her eyes at Akira's antics. "Hai, Miyuki-sama."

* * *

"Again, I'm so sorry about this whole ordeal, Miyuki." Tsunade frowned.

"It is quite alright, no harm done." Miyuki stated calmly. "My own shinobi had a lot to do with this too, let's not forget."

"Yeah but I highly doubt with the influence of that baka any of this would have happened." Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Perhaps not, but Akira can be quite impressionable." Miyuki smiled. "Irregardless, I'm sure the talk you wanted to have was not about Akira and Naruto." Miyuki's smile did not falter, despite the implications behind her words. She sat calm across from Tsunade's desk, Kagami standing respectfully behind them against the furthest wall from Tsunade, and Shizune standing respectfully alongside her Kage.

"Hai." Tsunade confirmed, her expression changing into a terse and serious one. "I wanted to ask if the rumors were true." There was a tense pause in the air, "Are you working with Akatsuki?"

The question had finally been thrown out in the open -the very same question that had been the sole reason for Miyuki's invitation to Konohagakure, and it had taken Miyuki several seconds for her to finally part her lips and speak. "I will not lie to you, Tsunade; you have been kind and hospitable to me and my shinobi, and you do not deserve it." Miyuki stated seriously. "I did make a deal with Akatsuki several years ago." She finally confirmed. "But I by no means have any involvement with their agenda, nor do I plan on capturing the Jinchuuriki on their behalf. Not now, not ever." She declared confidently, but all it did was make Tsunade's eyes furrow in confusion.

If that was not part of the deal that she made with Akatsuki, then what more could it be? "With no offense to you, it's hard to believe that an organization such as them would make a bargain with someone as young as you, especially if it does not involve helping them capture the bijuu. What could they possibly gain from making a deal with you?" And as she thought this, she couldn't help but mentally think, _there is nothing that you are doing or intend on doing that won't benefit her people, eh? This was all about her gaining power, she can't fool me._

"Revenue." it was that simple, Miyuki's single word leaving Tsunade confused -why did she act like this was enough of a valid answer? "Sound is rich in resources and I made a deal that if they helped me claim it under my name, that I would double the revenue they gave to me within the year of my seating. It was a sacrifice I had to make in order to better Sound, and I have no regrets. I needed their funding in order to begin my plans. At first, it was primarily used for hiring workers -all of Sound origin, mind you, to construct roads and make travel easier for merchants and those who use trade as their form of living, as well as to hire intel on where Orochimaru's ex-shinobi currently resided. And with the rest of the funding that was given to me, I used this to begin creating my small shinobi army, if I could call it that, for it had only been fifteen at the time, to help ease my burden of protecting said roads from bandits and the like."

"Through these actions, Akatsuki allowed my budget to increase ever so slightly, and I began campaigning and accepting donations to build hospitals across the region. Of course, the donations had been slim to none, until my very first hospital had been built -after that it soared, and I found I had no need for Akatsuki anymore. To this day, I have yet to make another deal with them, seeing as it is rather unnecessary."

"And how can you trust them so readily? How do you know they won't double cross you?" Tsunade asked seriously.

"They have no reason to as of now. The only one who stands to gain anything at this rate is me. If they kill me now, they'll never see their source of cashing in. And I trust my shinobi enough; were I to die, they would make sure Akatsuki would not lay claims to my Otokage-ship, presuming this is what you were thinking all along." Miyuki stated once more calmly.

It had been quiet for a long time as Tsunade contemplated her words. "You sure have given this some thought." she finally spoke after a long time. It was actually quite surprising, truth be told. She hadn't heard of someone thinking so deeply into a matter other than Shikamaru or Neji -or Sakura, but that was rather irrelevant as things stood.

"You must, if you plan on making a deal with the devil." Miyuki stated matter-of-factly.

"Well then I won't beat around the bush with this matter, Miyuki. My beliefs stand same as yours -what I do, I do for my nation. And having Sound rise up again, with the influence of Akatsuki no less, is worrisome and dangerous for my people, primarily that of my Jinchuuriki, what with such a close proximity between our two nations."

"I understand your concern." Miyuki acknowledged. "I would feel the same were I to be in your shoes, which is why I accepted this invitation. I make it my personal word that as far as things go, Otogakure is neutral. We will fight for neither cause. Konoha will not be harmed in order to progress any of the Akatsuki agenda, and we will also not fight to exterminate Akatsuki. I give you my word, that Akatsuki is only but a stepping stone for me. This never gave them a permission to use me as some sort of ally for their agenda."

Tsunade thought about this long and hard. "I appreciate your words, Miyuki. I have not known you for long, but you seem to harbor no ill will towards any of us -and have only acted out as you see fit for your people. That is something that I respect greatly. So long as you respect these terms, I also give you my word that no action will be taken against Sound."

"I'm glad we can come to some sort of agreement." Miyuki gave a curt nod as she stood, a slight bow showing respect to the Konoha kage. "I'm glad you live up to my expectations of you -I have heard great things, after all. But now that everything has been said and done, I truly must return to my village. I hardly find it appropriate to leave my village just weeks after my coronation, if you will."

"You are more than welcome to rest for the night here and return to your village in the morning." Tsunade offered seriously.

Miyuki nodded in acceptance. "I will accept that then, arigatou."

"Very well, my shinobi will walk you out of the village when you are ready in the morning."

"Hai. Arigatou once more, Tsunade." And she began to walk away, although a thought occurred to her as her hand reached the door handle. "And as a side-note. I hardly think it appropriate for your shinobi to be listening into our conversation so secretively. If they wish to test my honesty, all they had to do was come in."

Tsunade blinked. Her shinobi? "What the- NA-RU-TO."

Miyuki couldn't help but quirk a smile as she left -Naruto had always, and would always, have the same tendencies, she supposed. But she thought that had been that, but apparently not, because as she and her shinobi began walking back to their resting quarters, she was called out to by the very same blonde shinobi.

She turned, curious to know what he wanted. "May I help you?" she quirked her head to the side in mild curiosity.

Naruto frowned. "I had initially come to Baa-san's office to apologize to you personally about the ordeal at the onsen." he began, the frown never leaving his features. "But I couldn't stop myself from overhearing your conversation... So it's true you're working with Akatsuki?" he stated seriously, coming closer to Miyuki and her entourage.

"I believe I have already spoken to Tsunade on the matter -why does this concern you?" Miyuki frowned. If she had settled the matter with Tsunade, then if Naruto had any reservations about it then he had to take it up with her; it was no longer her job to explain herself further, especially not to him.

"Because these are my friends who are being put in danger to try and defeat them." clearly, Naruto was not pleased with the indifference that Miyuki was portraying. "You're allied with my enemy."

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Uzumaki Naruto." Miyuki responded in a clipped tone. "If you have any reservations with me, take it up with your Kage." She began to turn and walk away, but clearly Naruto was not having that.

"I'm still talking." his voice seemed to echo around them with a force that demanded Miyuki hear him out.

Miyuki paused momentarily, before she turned to face him once more. She would wait until he was done, and then she would leave; she'd at least do him that respect after their years of friendship.

"This is my village. If you even so much as do anything questionable that may put Konoha or any of my friends even remotely in jeopardy, I will personally come knocking at your door."

Whether this was meant to be a serious threat or not, it had only made Miyuki laugh. "And what will you do then? Duel me? Show me your superiority so I know not to mess with you or your village?" she taunted him. "I'm out of your league, Uzumaki-kun. And don't you _dare_ threaten me again." Her emerald eyes flashed with fire.

Naruto's hand tightened into a white fist, for a second at a loss for words as he saw something within Miyuki that stirred feelings of unrest -and for the first time in a long time, he felt scared. His hands began to sweat, his heart beat racing. Something about her had changed, and her posture had taken on a more aggressive stance even if she had barely moved. Her chakra leaked, whether she had willed it to or not, and for a second its crushing aura was enough to leave him motionless, shocked into solid stone; its sheer pressure overwhelming simply because he had not expected it.

But perhaps more terrifying than any of that was the fact that for a second he saw not Miyuki, but he swore it had been Sakura.

* * *

 **End of Chapter**

 **So for anyone reading both stories, you can see how they're taking two complete turns already. I've been working really hard on coming up with content that will make both stories really unique, and I think I've come up with a pretty good solution, so I'm excited with that :) Reviews have been great, so thanks to all of you :)**

 **I hope the tid-bit at the onsen was light and humorous. I kind of want to start developing Itachi and Sakura's relationship together in that sort of shy, stand-offish direction, but keep in mind he literally knows her inside and out due to their genjutsu training sessions (and he has also seen her naked, but that is beside the point right now).**

 **Any and all feedback is much appreciated!**


End file.
